The word menopause comes from the Greek "mens" which means monthly and "pausi" which is cessation. Menopause is the moment in which the woman has the cessation of her menstruation and has physiological connections, with the decline in estrogen secretion due to the decrease in follicular functions. Menopause begins around age 50, and begins because a woman gradually begins to decrease the function of her ovaries, so she does not produce enough of the estrogens and progesterone, which are the two female hormones.
The low hormone levels are the cause of all symptoms in menopause. Menstruation occurs seasonally and eventually ceases. Sometimes this happens suddenly. But usually menstruation ends little by little as time passes.
Menopause is consummated when the woman has not seen her period for 1 year. This is called postmenopause. Medical menopause occurs when surgical procedures cause estrogen depreciation. This usually happens when both ovaries are removed. Menopause in some cases is caused due to the implementation of certain drugs for chemotherapies or for hormonal therapy for breast cancer.
Certain kinds of surgeries or the use of contraceptive medicines can cause menopause. An example is the removal of the uterus, that is, performing a hysterectomy on a woman causes the cessation of menstruation. It also occurs when the two ovaries are removed through an oophorectomy, when either of the two aforementioned interventions is performed, the signs of menopause, such as symptoms, will begin immediately, regardless of the age of the patient.
There are three phases of the menopausal cycle comprised of:
- Premenopause: It is the beneficial time preliminary to menopause.
- Perimenopause: It is the period before menopause, when the endocrinological, biological and clinical events of approach to menopause begin, and the first year after menopause.
- Postmenopause: It is the cycle that develops from the last period onwards, regardless of whether the menopause was prompted or spontaneous.
