Early menopause: the signs and the risks

The average age of menopause is fifty-one years and four months. You've reached menopause when you haven't had your period for twelve consecutive months. However, menopause is still considered natural and normal for women as young as forty.

The perimenopause phase lasts only a few months or years for some women, and more than a decade for others. The average time frame for the signs and symptoms of perimenopause are three to five years.

Early menopause occurs when you have reached the change of life before you are forty-years-old. Late menopause occurs anytime in the late fifties, but some women even experience it into their sixties. Both early and late menopause can cause health problems.

Signs of early menopause

The signs and symptoms of early menopause are the same as normal menopause, only, obviously, earlier. The typical experiences are: hot flashes, night sweats,insomnia, memory loss, weight gain, headaches, migraines, breast tenderness, itchy skin, dry skin, moodiness, depression, changes in libido, and more. Some women barely notice anything at all and others have extreme, life-altering experiences.

The degree  to which you suffer has a lot to do with lifestyle choices including diet, fitness, meditation, relaxation,  and how much you are enjoying your life in general.

What is surprising is that even with improvements with nutrition and quality of life and even though we are expected to live longer than ever, the age at which we experience menopause has remained virtually unchanged for as long as we have recorded it.

Conditions that will bring on an earlier menopause

·         Smoking. Smoking can bring on menopause earlier by a few years. Smoking has the added risk of osteoporosis.

·         Having had no children.

·         Exposure to toxic chemicals.

·         Chemotherapy.

·         Radiation.

·         Medically treated depression.

·         Premature grey (doesn’t cause early menopause, but may coincide with it).

Conditions that may delay menopause:

·         Obesity

·         Having many children

·         Alcohol use

The good news and the bad news about early menopause

The good news about early menopause is that it does not mean you are aging faster or that your lifespan is shorter than a woman who experiences a normal menopause. What it does mean is that you are at a greater risk for osteoporosis, but you can reduce this risk by talking to your family physician about a healthy diet and supplements to prevent osteoporosis and muscle strengthening and weight -bearing exercises.