How to recognise the menopause

Everyone reacts to the menopause in different ways, so you need to know what to expect in order to help yourself to stay healthy and happy and to know what treatment and lifestyle changes could be of benefit to you. The menopause is not something to fear - although some women dread reaching it, others look on it as a new lease on life physically, emotionally, sexually and spiritually.

What is the menopause?
The precise definition of the menopause is the time when your periods stop permanently, recognised retrospectively after an absence of periods for 12 months. This happens to most women between the age of 40 and 58, with an average age of 51.4 years. A few women reach their menopause in their thirties (before 40 this is called premature menopause and can be induced surgically or by drug treatment), and a smaller number don't reach menopause until they are 60.

When will it happen to me?
There are several things influencing the timing of the menopause in individual women. When your mother and grandmother went through their menopause influences the timing of yours. Factors influencing the possibility of an earlier menopause include having no children and being a smoker (smoking may make it happen two years earlier). Childhood treatment of cancer, with radiation to the pelvis or chemotherapy, may also bring on an early menopause.