What is Menopause?

Menopause refers to the termination of periods in human females, which usually takes place between the age of 45 and 50 years. It is an ordinary aging process that usually occurs after 1 year of amenorrhoea. The term ‘Menopause’ comes from the Greek word ‘menos’ that means ‘month’ and ‘pause’ that refers ‘to stop’. It is usually referred to as the last menstrual period that indicates the failure of ovulation during its cycles. In women of 45 to 50 age, ranging from a few months to few years, the cycles of periods slowly turn irregular and then fade away during which some specific hormones’ levels decline so quickly that they turns out to be zero. This time in women’s life is also termed as 'the change of life', while many doctors call it as 'climacteric'. With this introduction, you know what is menopause. But, would you like to know the causes of menopause, stages of menopause, and about its impact? So, keep reading further for these useful facts.
 

What is the Reason behind Menopause?

The real factor leading to menopause is the aging or burning out of the ovaries. In fact, the aging of the ovary starts much in advance prior to birth due to a progressive waning of the number of primordial follicles. Scientifically, these follicles grow in great percentage when the female enters her stage of puberty, which is then retained across the reproductive age. After this age, the number of follicles declines during the period of menopause or in the period around menopause. One more cause of menopause is the low production of the hormone called estrogen. Based on the above factors, a woman can face any of the two types of menopauses.
• Natural Menopause:This is when the estrogens are generated in significant amounts only for a small period after menopause. However, as the time passes, the production amount greatly starts falling to become almost zero.
• Artificial Menopause:Along with the natural menopause, many patients can suffer from the loss of ovaries’ function while obtaining pelvic radiation or chemotherapy. Further, artificial menopause also takes place in those whose ovaries fail or are removed via the bilateral surgery.

Stages of Menopause

Many women have different opinions in this regard when they are asked what is menopause and what its stages are. But, majorly, menopause is split into two phases.

• Perimenopause: In this stage, the body experiences a waning ovarian function. Further, it is also characterized by irregular cycles. Women, when entered into this stage, start experiencing certain symptoms, which can become bothersome right from the onset. So, proper advice needs to be taken from an authentic doctor. This stage of slowly declining and varying hormone levels generally starts in the age of early 40s.
• Postmenopause:This stage is entered by a woman when she does not have menses for continuous 12 months. This means that there will be no menses’ cycles. But, a regular check-up can ensure you that all is well!

The Average Age of Menopause and its Effects

Without this, the answer to what is menopause is incomplete. Since ages, menopause, if normal, takes place at the age of 45; which is the standard onset time. This is a normal process, but results in many changes and side-effects if there is some problem in your body. Do not relate the happening of menopause with the change in socioeconomic factors, weight, or height. However, if you smoke heavily or do not have enough diet, you are bound to enter into menopause before the age of 45. In this era, the significance of menopause is seen in the increasing long life of the today’s woman. What I mean is that with the increased life span, women are living almost above 33 percent of their life in the postmenopausal stage where lack of estrogen can give rise to many long-term metabolic problems.