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Menopause: Time for a Change |
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Or your waist is getting thicker. You may not be paying much attention to these changes until one day, if you’re like many women, it happens—a hot flash! One minute you feel perfectly comfortable, and the next you are sweating and flushed—for no apparent reason. You may be surprised. You may feel “too young.” You ask yourself—could this be the start of my transition through menopause? This booklet begins with an explanation of what is happening during the menopausal transition. It will tell you about some of the common signs that you are beginning this transition and give you information about handling bothersome symptoms. There is a discussion of some health problems that become more common after menopause, as well as suggestions for staying healthy. There is a resource list for more information. This booklet, based on research conducted by scientists, represents what we know now about the menopausal transition. An Introduction to Menopause Menopause, also known as "the change” or “change of life,” is a normal part of a woman’s life. It is a point in time—the last menstrual cycle, the last period. The years leading up to that last period, when women might be experiencing menopausal symptoms like changes in their monthly cycles or hot flashes, are called the menopausal transition. It is a common mistake to use the word menopause to describe this whole transition. The menopausal transition occurs at a time in a woman’s reproductive life when the production of estrogen and progesterone, two hormones made by the ovaries, may vary dramatically and unpredictably. The ovaries are two small glands found on either side of the top of the uterus or womb. Before menopause, they hold eggs, one or more of which are released during a menstrual cycle. If the egg then joins with sperm following sexual intercourse and attaches itself inside the uterus, pregnancy is the result. Ovaries also produce chemical substances known as hormones, which travel through the blood to other tissues to control how cells work. One of these, estrogen, has effects on cells in many parts of the body including the reproductive organs, brain, heart and blood vessels, and bone. Usually in her forties, a woman’s body starts changing. Some differences, such as a thickening waist, can happen because she is getting older, but others, like vaginal dryness, are caused by changes in her hormone levels. As a woman ages and especially as she gets closer to menopause, her ovaries get smaller. This time of changes in hormone levels and menstrual cycles is called the menopausal transition. You might also hear it called perimenopause. It usually lasts several years until 12 months after your last period. Once a woman has gone a full 12 months without a period, she can be fairly sure that she has been through menopause and is now in postmenopause. The chart below shows how the patterns of hormone production change as women go from their reproductive years through the menopausal transition to postmenopause. Postmenopause lasts the rest of a woman’s life. Going through menopause is a little like driving on an unfamiliar, twisting road with an unclear destination. You may not be sure of all that is happening, where you are going, or what’s coming next. In fact, you won’t realize you have reached your destination (menopause) until you are past it and see it in your rearview mirror. The average age of menopause is 51. That means that almost half of all women have their last period and reach menopause before that age, and some women may not have even started perimenopause yet. It’s not easy to know when you are in the menopausal transition. Menopausal symptoms, along with a physical examination, medical history, and maybe some blood tests, may provide useful clues. But, it is not possible to correctly predict when a woman’s final period will be. Your doctor could test the amount of estrogen in your blood or the level of FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), another hormone that changes at this time. But, levels of both estrogen and FSH normally go up and down during your menstrual cycle. So, these test results alone cannot be used to predict or confirm menopause. ... Visit Menopause: Time for a Change Website You can read the publication online, download full publication in pdf format, or order print copies. Download Menopause: Time for a Change PDF format, 1.11MB, 40Pages. National Institute of Aging TABLE OF CONTENTS: AN INTRODUCTION TO MENOPAUSE . . . . . . . . . 2 For More Information To learn more about health and aging and to order Hormones and Menopause, a tip sheet on menopausal hormone therapy, contact: National Institute on Aging (NIA) Information Center To sign up for regular email alerts about new publications and other information from the NIA, visit: Visit NIHSeniorHealth (www.nihseniorhealth.gov), a senior-friendly website from the NIA and the National Library of Medicine. This website has health information for older adults. Special features make it simple to use. For example, you can click on a button to have the text read out loud or to make the type larger. To learn more about Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss, contact: Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center Other sources of useful information for menopausal and postmenopausal women: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Menopausal Hormone Therapy Information National Cancer Institute National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine National Eye Institute National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases National Institute of Child Health and Human Development National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases National Institute of Mental Health National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism National Women’s Health Information Center Office of Dietary Supplements The National Library of Medicine has a website, www.medlineplus.gov, with information on many health subjects, including menopause. Click on Health Topics. Choose any topic you are interested in, such as menopause, menopausal hormone therapy, or osteoporosis, by clicking on the first letter of the topic and scrolling down the list to find it. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists North American Menopause Society Set as favorite Bookmark
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If you are a woman in her mid forties or early fifties, you may feel like your body is changing, but you may not know what is happening. Maybe your periods are not the same. You don’t sleep as well as you always have. 
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