Menopause is that period of a woman's life in which menstruations stop and never come back. Menopause is part of the natural aging process in women. In this phase, the ovaries no longer produce ova (eggs) and the hormones estrogen and progesterone, making pregnancy impossible for the woman.
The average age at which women enter menopause is 52 years. However, it can vary from 42 to 56 years. Menopause is established when a woman at this age has gone a year without menstruation.
Entering menopause does not happen overnight; it is not immediate. It is preceded by a phase that can last several months or years called premenopause. ‘Premenopause’ represents those years before the onset of menopause in which a woman begins to experience the first symptoms of menopause. But in most cases, in everyday jargon, women include perimenopause in menopause.
Since menopause is a normal part of a woman’s life, it should not be considered a disease or a problem. However, some women find it difficult to experience and adapt to its symptoms, which are caused by the lack of hormones.
It should be noted that women experience menopause in different ways. Some may have no signs or symptoms, while others may have more serious symptoms.
The main sign is the change in menstruation which becomes irregular (too close or too far apart), and when the flow of blood changes (decreases or becomes more abundant). Eventually, they stop altogether. Other signs may include:
In most cases, these signs disappear after the first year of menopause.
The more serious problems a woman can experience during menopause are those related to osteoporosis and the heart.
Osteoporosis. Every day, the human body “destroys” old bone tissue and replaces it with new bone tissue. In this regeneration, estrogens play a key role. Menopause is characterized by the lack of estrogens and therefore bone regeneration does not occur. As a result, they become more porous and often break more easily. The most common fractures that osteoporosis causes in menopausal women are those of the femur neck and the vertebrae. This condition is called osteoporosis. For this reason, women over 45 years old should undergo specific routine examinations for bone density (bone densitometry).
Heart diseases. In menopause, women are very predisposed to heart diseases. Here too, the lack of estrogens is blamed as the cause. Problems can be aggravated with the addition of other factors such as overweight, the appearance of diabetes, or hypertension. All these changes increase the risk of heart diseases. For this reason, women in this period of life should be regularly checked by a cardiologist, have a balanced diet, keep blood sugar, blood fats under control, and continuously engage in physical exercise. In this way, the risk for heart disease will be reduced.
Menopause is an experience that women go through in different ways. The way of experiencing it is related to genetic factors, diet, lifestyle, and the socio-cultural attitude towards women in the environment where she lives.
Premature menopause occurs when a woman enters menopause earlier than normal. This can happen immediately or gradually in the following situations:
Premature immediate menopause:
Premature gradual menopause:
In all these situations, the ovaries are either removed or fail to produce hormones anymore. Women who enter menopause immediately and prematurely experience more menopause symptoms and therefore need hormone replacement therapy.
Menopause is an important stage in a woman's life. For some, it may be a difficult period filled with physical and emotional problems. For others, it is a period of rebirth. It’s no coincidence that many women experience an increase in physical activity in menopause, which is also called the menopause zeal.
Some of the recommended measures are as follows: