What is Menopause?

Menopause is a natural cycle in which women stop getting a period at a certain age and is unable to conceive or become pregnant. The ovaries stop releasing eggs, which leads to menopause. The time duration and symptoms are sudden. In the beginning, women start to get less frequent periods for years and months, or sometimes they all of a sudden stop getting them. Menopause marks the end of your menstrual cycle and reproduction cycle. At the age of 40 to 50 women starts to experience menopause, and in the United States, women have menopause at the age of 51 years.

Many women struggle with different physical and psychological symptoms but identifying and knowing it is far difficult. The journey of the menstrual cycle does not have an estimated start time and end time. It is the permanent ending of the cycle, which does not have any medical treatment.

What is premature menopause?

When women go through menopause at the age of 40 to 50, it is known as natural menopause. But many women have menopause at a very early stage, which could be a reason for surgical intervention (because of the removal of ovaries or damage of ovaries due to chemotherapies). Ending of menstrual cycle before the age of 40 is called premature menopause or early menopause.

What is the difference between perimenopause and menopause?

The time duration before the menopause starts is known as perimenopause. At this period, the body of a woman is adjusting for menopause. This implies that there is a decline in hormone production by the ovaries. Some common symptoms begin to appear, which are related to menopause also, such as hot flashes.

During perimenopause, a woman has irregular periods, but they don’t vanish all of a sudden. Once you spend the duration of 12 months you will more likely to enter menopause.

What is Post-menopause?

This term is used for women who haven’t bled for the whole year. The rest of the life after spending menopause is post-menopause. The common symptom in the duration of menopause is hot flashes, which went smoothly in some women. However, some women experience the symptoms for a long time, like years after the transition of menopause. As an outcome of low estrogen production, women with post-menopause have a high risk of encountering different health problems, like heart diseases and osteoporosis.

When to Concern with the Doctor?

If you have any uncertain conditions, women are recommended to take regular visits and treatments in case of any health condition. Keep visiting your doctor, make an appointment during and after menopause also. For the prevention of any health condition, doctors usually suggest some screening tests, like mammography, colonoscopy, and triglyceride. Mostly, doctors also recommend thyroid testing, your previous history of health problems, pelvic exams, etc. Before doing any self-medication, seek professional help. If you have bleeding after menopause as well, concern the doctor immediately to prevent any uncertain and severe health issues.