Menopausal issues
It is critical to see menopause as just one point in a continuum of life stages. A woman’s health status entering the perimenopausal period will largely be determined by prior health and reproductive history, lifestyle and environmental factors. Perimenopausal and postmenopausal symptoms can be disruptive to personal and professional lives, and changes associated with menopause will affect a woman’s health as she ages. Therefore, perimenopausal care plays an important role in the promotion of healthy ageing and quality of life.
Menopause can be an important transition from a social perspective, as well as a biological one. Socially, a women’s experience of menopause may be influenced by gender norms, familial and sociocultural factors, including how female ageing and the menopausal transition are viewed in her culture.
The global population of postmenopausal women is growing. In 2021, women aged 50 and over accounted for 26% of all women and girls globally. This was up from 22% 10 years earlier. Additionally, women are living longer. Globally, a woman aged 60 years in 2019 could expect to live on average another 21 years.
Changes associated with menopause
The hormonal changes associated with menopause can affect physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being. The symptoms experienced during and following the menopausal transition vary substantially from person to person. Some have few if any symptoms. For others, symptoms can be severe and affect daily activities and quality of life. Some can experience symptoms for several years.
- Hot flushes refer to a sudden feeling of heat in the face, neck and chest, often accompanied by flushing of the skin, perspiration (sweating), palpitations, and acute feelings of physical discomfort which can last several minutes
- Changes in the regularity and flow of the menstrual cycle, culminating in cessation of menstruation
- Vaginal dryness, pain during sexual intercourse and incontinence
- Changes in mood, depression, and/or anxiety.
Key facts
It is critical to see menopause as just one point in a continuum of life stages. A woman’s health status entering the perimenopausal period will largely be determined by prior health and reproductive history, lifestyle and environmental factors.
- A variety of non-hormonal and hormonal interventions can help alleviate perimenopausal symptoms.
- Menopause can be a consequence of surgical or medical procedures.
- Menopause is caused by the loss of ovarian follicular function and a decline in circulating blood oestrogen levels.
- Most women experience menopause between the ages of 45 and 55 years as a natural part of biological ageing.
- Menopause is one point in a continuum of life stages for women and marks the end of their reproductive years. After menopause, a woman cannot become pregnant, except in rare cases when specialized fertility treatments are used.
