Health and Fitness Journal

The term menopause literally means the end of the menstrual period for a woman. The time leading up to this last period is often referred to as the peri-menopause and the time following known as post-menopause.

Menopause is a normal event in life for women, characterized by hormonal changes and often occurs in ‘mid-life’, between the late 40s and early 50s although women who smoke generally experience menopause around two years earlier that non-smokers.

Whilst most women see menopause as the beginning of old age, it actually signals the start of a new life, one full of new and different expectations, opportunities and experiences. As a woman’s life expectancy is generally 85, it can signal the sign of another 30 years of new beginnings.

The experience of menopause varies from woman to woman and even from culture to culture. All women, however, undergo the same basic hormonal changes during menopause. A woman’s ovaries produce three types of hormones – testosterone, progesterone and oestrogen. These hormones play a vital role in pregnancy, ovulation and menstruation. During the peri-menopause phase the ovaries’ production of these hormones diminishes until finally dying out when menopause is reached.

While there are numerous side effects to menopause, such as hot flushes, night sweats, sleep disturbances, genital changes and joint or muscles pains, most woman go through the menopause period with little problems, except for of course personal issues in reaching menopause. My only advice is to look at this as a wonderful new beginning with great unknown chapters in your life waiting to be written.

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