Menopause

This natural phase—which broadly encompasses perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause—means a woman has stopped ovulating and can no longer get pregnant. The clinical definition requires a woman to go a whole year without bleeding or spotting to know she has hit menopause.

People tend to pay close attention to how menopause impacts a woman’s body, noting that it can increase her risk of certain diseases and conditions when she’s postmenopausal. But what about her brain? Lisa Mosconi, a neuroscientist studying the impact of menopause on the brain, explains in this TedTalk how menopause directly impacts a woman’s brain health. Watch it here.

Postmenopause is the final stage of menopause. Once a woman hasn’t had her period for a full year, she is considered postmenopausal and will be for the rest of her life. While some of the intense symptoms she might experience during perimenopausal will decline, her risk for certain conditions and diseases will increase. This article explains what a woman can expect during the last stage of menopause.

Menopause, a natural biological process, occurs in three stages: perimenopause (hormone fluctuations), menopause (end of menstrual cycles), and postmenopause (12 months without menstruation). Hormonal shifts during this time can affect neurotransmitters, increasing the risk of mood disorders.

Medical menopause is when menopause is induced from either surgery or medicine. Chemotherapy and radiation, as well as oophorectomy (a surgical procedure that removes the ovaries) and a radical hysterectomy can cause a woman to become menopausal. Women that go through medical menopause experience the same symptoms as women that experience natural menopause. Learn more about the medical condition here.

Nearly all studies (99%) researching the biology of aging don’t consider menopause in their setup. A Harvard professor noted that about 75% of aging-related diseases are likely influenced by menopause. In this article, she discusses how gaps in research are negatively impacting how the medical system can effectively treat aging women. Read her analysis of the issue here.

Menstruation is vaginal bleeding that happens normally once a month as part of a woman’s hormonal cycle. It happens when an egg released by an ovary during ovulation isn’t fertilized. Periods, as they’re also called, can cause symptoms like mood swings, cramping, and fatigue. This article gives an intro to the basics you need to know about menstruation.

Perimenopause (also referred to as the menopausal transition) is the time period when a woman’s body begins prepping for menopause. During this stage, the ovaries production of the reproductive hormones progesterone and estrogen decline. Plus, she’ll likely experience a slew of mental and physical symptoms. Typically women enter this stage in their mid-40s and stay in it for four years, but this varies from person to person. Learn more here.

Early menopause is when you reach menopause before the age of 45. While doctors can’t pinpoint an exact cause of early menopause, there are risk factors which increase a woman’s chances of entering this life stage sooner. Potential causes include smoking, autoimmune diseases, and some surgeries. Learn more about what can lead to early menopause with this guide.

Menopause is the second natural time in a woman’s life when her body goes through a whole transition. Unlike puberty, it isn’t talked about as much. In this podcast episode by Houston Methodist, the host speaks with a gynecologist with a specialization in menopausal medicine about what menopause really is, and how women and the people in their lives can navigate this next life stage. Listen here.