Menopause facts

Definition
The medical definition of the menopause is the end of menstruation, which results from a reduced production of oestrogen by the body. The term ‘perimenopause’ is used to describe the time surrounding the last natural menstrual period.

Life expectancy
In Ireland, the average age at which women go through the menopause is 51 years. Because women’s life expectancy is getting longer - average life expectancy in the UK is over 80 years – women can now expect to spend a third of their lives in the post-menopausal stage.

Premature menopause
If women go through the menopause before the age of 45, they are said to experience a premature menopause.* This can happen as a result of natural causes or because of treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy. In many cases, the cause of a premature menopause is not known.

What happens at the menopause
During the menopause a woman may still have monthly bleeds but the number of anovulatory menstrual cycles, when no egg is released from the ovaries, increases. The levels of female sex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, may fluctuate almost daily around the time of the menopause. Women’s periods then stop due to the consistently low levels of oestrogen.

The result of this drop in oestrogen and progesterone production is an increase in two other hormones: follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH). One of the most common tests used to diagnose the menopause checks for levels of these two hormones in the blood.

Symptoms of the menopause
Fluctuating hormone levels result in a wide range of symptoms:

• Hot flushes
• Night sweats
• Mood disturbances / depression / forgetfulness
• Vaginal dryness / urinary infections / pain during intercourse

_{Back to top
IC09010}