The Menopause in women is the period in which the reproductive stage finishes. It’s the phase of change of life in which the ovulation and the menstruation stop, marking the end of the fertility. When the woman stops ovulating, their ovaries stop in great measure of producing the estrogen and progesterone, the hormones that regulate the menstrual cycle. As the estrogen production decreases, the ovulation and menstruation occur very often, and possibly they stop. The menstruation in woman can stop before due to a disease or a hysterectomy. In these cases we talk about an induced menopause.

the menopause is not a disease

In Europe and North America, the menopause in the woman occurs normally when a woman is around the 50 years old and it lasts around 5 years. The menopause is not a disease. It can present, however, at the age of 40 years in some occasions. It’s said that women have a precocious menopause (premature) when it occurs before 40 years; the precocious menopause (premature) is the premature ovarian insufficiency, which produces when the ovaries stop working before the age of 40 years; after 40 years it’s not known as precocious menopause (premature). The age and symptoms of menopause also have a strong genetic influence. In some cases it happens that the woman who started early the menstruation is more probable to experience the menopause before.

the menopause is the end of the menstruation and the ovulation

The estrogen is the sexual hormone, joined to the reproduction and the functioning of different organs of the body; the vagina cells, the bladder, the breasts, the skin, the bones, the arteries, the heart, the liver and the brain contain receptors of estrogen and they require of this hormone to work normally. The estrogen is needed so that the skin keeps soft and humid; it means, for that the internal thermostat of the organism works correctly and the arteries stay free of obstructions. It’s also necessary for the normal formation of the bones.

 

in the menopause the production of the hormone estrogen decreases

The menopause is a natural process of the woman’s life. For that it’s very important what the woman thinks in this stage. If she believes that is the end of her youth and her sexuality, it will be a painful period; but if she thinks this is a phase of her life, it will be a quiet period, without problems.

MENOPAUSE PHASES
The menstruation rarely stops abruptly. It’s about a process in which the lack of estrogens is going establishing progressively many years before the menopausic phenomenon. During this period, the woman presents irregularities in her menstruation; for example, she can’t have the period during one or two months. This occurs during a determined period until it disappears definitively. Therefore, the menopause only can define a posteriori, after a quite long period of menstruation, generally a year. The period of transition from the fertile state to the non reproductive state in woman is called climacteric.
a) Pre-menopause phase:
The pre-menopause phase lasts long time (2 – 10 years before the menopause starts) and characterizes for the shortening of the cycles. During the menopause the cycles of the menstruation last between 21 to 25 days; if it lasts 28 days, you are not in the pre-menopause stage.
b) Perimenopausic phase:
Generally it covers the two previous years to the instauration of the menopause. It characterizes because the cycles are no longer regular and “the periods come when they want (twice a month, 1 each 3 months, etc.). The quantity of the menstruation can be very abundant or scarce. With these disarrangements arrives a moment in which there aren’t menstruations in 6 or 12 months, giving it initiated the menopause.
c) Climacteric or Pos-menopausic phase:

The climacteric is the consequence of the ovarian exhaustion, which lose its capacity of producing hormones. It characterizes because appear all the symptoms derivates from the lack of estrogens (hot flushes, sweats, insomnia, irritability, etc.). Sometimes some people use to confuse with the menopause the climacteric. The climacteric generates limitations like osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases.