Menopause - Causes

What are the Stages of Menopause?

The whole menopause transition varies from woman to woman. Depending on this it can be divided into four main stages-

Premenopause - This refers to entire normal reproductive period of a woman's life from the time of the first menstruation cycle to the last regular menstrual period.

Perimenopause - This refers to the transition phase when a woman passes from regular periods to irregular periods and happens for a few months or years before attaining full stoppage of menstruation. It is usually experienced by women from 35-50 years of age. During this stage there are hormone fluctuations and causes the typical menopause symptoms such as hot flashes.

Menopause - This refers to a stage when the women's reproductive life comes to an end and a woman can no longer get pregnant naturally. At this point the ovaries stop producing eggs and the menstruation cycle stops permanently. The two reproductive hormones - estrogen and progesterone production decreases permanently to low levels.

Postmenopause - This refers to the period in a women's life after one year from the time of the last menstrual cycle. From here a woman will be postmenopausal for the rest of her life.