Menopause and its symptoms

Menopause is a normal condition that all women experience as they age. The term menopause can describe any of the changes a woman goes through either just before or after she stops menstruating, which marks the end of her reproductive period.

A woman is born with a finite number of eggs, which are stored in the ovaries. The ovaries also make the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, which control menstruation and ovulation. Menopause happens when the ovaries no longer release an egg every month and menstruation stops.

Menopause is considered a normal part of ageing when it happens after the age of 40. But some women can go through menopause early, either as a result of surgery, such as hysterectomy, or damage to the ovaries, such as from chemotherapy.

Menopause that happens before 40, regardless of the cause, is called premature menopause.

Natural menopause is not brought on by any type of medical or surgical treatment. The process is gradual and has three stages:

• Perimenopause

This typically begins several years before menopause, when the ovaries gradually make less oestrogen. Perimenopause lasts up until menopause, the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. In the last one to two years of perimenopause, the drop in oestrogen quickens. At this stage, many women have menopause symptoms.

• Menopause.

This is the point when it has been a year since a woman had her last menstrual period. At this stage, the ovaries have stopped releasing eggs and making most of their oestrogen.

Postmenopause

These are the years after menopause. During this stage, menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes ease for most women. But health risks related to the loss of oestrogen rise as the woman ages.

Premature Menopause

Premature menopause can be the result of genetics, or medical procedures. Other conditions that may cause early menopause include:

• Premature ovarian failure

Normally, the ovaries make both oestrogen and progesterone. Changes in the levels of these two hormones happen when the ovaries, for unknown reasons, prematurely stop releasing eggs. When this happens before the age of 40, it’s called premature ovarian failure. Unlike premature menopause, premature ovarian failure is not always permanent.

• Induced menopause

This happens when the ovaries are surgically removed for medical reasons, such as uterine cancer or endometriosis. Induced menopause can also result from damage to the ovaries caused by radiation or chemotherapy.

Symptoms

Most women approaching menopause will have hot flashes, a sudden feeling of warmth that spreads over the upper body, often with blushing and some sweating. The severity of hot flashes varies from mild in most women to severe in others. Other common symptoms around the time of menopause include: Irregular or skipped periods, insomnia, mood swings, fatigue, depression, irritability, racing heart, headaches. Joint, muscle aches and pains, changes in  sex drive, vaginal dryness  and bladder control problems