Menopause (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: Change of life

Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her period stops. It usually occurs naturally, most often after age 45. Menopause happens because the woman's ovary stops producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone.

A woman has reached menopause when she has not had a period for one year. Changes and symptoms can start several years earlier. They include

A change in periods - shorter or longer, lighter or heavier, with more or less time in between
Hot flashes and/or night sweats
Trouble sleeping
Vaginal dryness
Mood swings
Trouble focusing
Less hair on head, more on face

Menopause is not a disorder. Most women do not need treatment for it. However, if symptoms are severe, medicines may help. After menopause, women are more vulnerable to bone loss and heart disease. Exercise and eating right can help keep women healthy as they age.

National Women's Health Information Center

Start Here

Menopause(National Institute on Aging) - http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/menopause.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/Spanish/menopause-sp.htm
Menopause(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/menopauseintroduction/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/menopauseintroductionspanish/htm/index.htm
Understanding Menopause(National Women's Health Information Center) - http://womenshealth.gov/menopause/

Overviews

Menopause(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) - http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/menopause.cfm
Menopause: A New Beginning(North American Menopause Society) - Large PDF file - http://www.menopause.org/edumaterials/easyreadenglish.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://www.menopause.org/edumaterials/easyreadspanish.pdf
Menopause: Time for a Change(National Institute on Aging) - http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/Menopause/
Menopause: What to Expect When Your Body Is Changing(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/women/reproductive/menopause/125.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/women/reproductive/menopause/125.printerview.html

Latest News

New NIH Research Initiative to Test Treatments for Menopausal Symptoms(09/17/2008, National Institute on Aging, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Office of Research on Women's Health) - http://www.nih.gov/news/health/sep2008/nia-17.htm
HRT After Menopause Reduces Symptoms(08/22/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_68425.html
Women Don't Notice 40% of Their Hot Flashes(06/26/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_66301.html

Diagnosis/Symptoms

Estrogen Tests(American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/estrogen/test.html

Treatment

MedlinePlus: Hormone Replacement Therapy(National Library of Medicine) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hormonereplacementtherapy.html
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/hormonereplacementtherapy.html
Menopause Drugs: Summary of Affordable Alternatives(Consumers Union of U.S.) - http://www.consumerreports.org/health/best-buy-drugs/menopause.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.consumerreports.org/health/resources/pdf/best-buy-drugs/EST%20SP1-0106.pdf
Pros and Cons for Treatment of Menopause Symptoms(Hormone Foundation) - http://www.hormone.org/Menopause/pros_and_cons.cfm
Treatment and Talking to Your Doctor about Menopause(National Women's Health Information Center) - http://womenshealth.gov/menopause/treatment/
Very-Low-Dose Birth Control Pills for Perimenopausal Women(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/women/reproductive/menopause/326.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/women/reproductive/menopause/326.printerview.html

Alternative Therapy

Menopausal Symptoms and CAM(National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) - http://nccam.nih.gov/health/menopauseandcam/
Questions and Answers about Black Cohosh and the Symptoms of Menopause(National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements) - http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/BlackCohosh.asp

Nutrition

Menopause: Staying Healthy through Good Nutrition(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/menopause/hic_menopause_staying_healthy_through_good_nutrition.aspx
Also available in Spanish http://my.clevelandclinic.org/es_/disorders/menopause/hic_menopause_staying_healthy_through_good_nutrition.aspx

Coping

Menopause: Managing Your Body's Changes(Hormone Foundation) - Links to PDF - http://www.hormone.org/Resources/upload/menopause_managing_your_body.pdf

Specific Conditions

Early Menopause Guidebook: Helping Women Make Informed Decisions(North American Menopause Society) - Links to PDF - http://www.menopause.org/edumaterials/earlyguidebook/emgtoc.aspx
Perimenopause(National Women's Health Information Center) - http://womenshealth.gov/faq/perimenopause.htm
Also available in Spanish http://womenshealth.gov/espanol/preguntas/peri.htm
Premature Menopause(Merck & Co., Inc.) - http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec22/ch243/ch243b.html

Related Issues

Exercise in Post-Menopausal Women(American Osteopathic Association) - http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=you_exerfs
Hot Flashes: Minimize Discomfort during Menopause(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/hot-flashes/HQ01409/METHOD=print
Menopausal Bleeding(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - http://www.medem.com/medlb/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZEHHEBS0E&sub_cat=2002
Menopause and Diabetes: A Twin Challenge(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/diabetes/DA00038/METHOD=print
Menopause and High Blood Pressure: What's the Connection?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/menopause-and-high-blood-pressure/AN01463/METHOD=print
Menopause and Mental Health(National Women's Health Information Center) - http://www.womenshealth.gov/menopause/mental/
Menopause and the Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4658
Sex and Menopause(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/menopause/hic_sex_and_menopause.aspx
Understanding Menopause(National Sleep Foundation) - http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2419231/k.63B3/Understanding_Menopause.htm
Vaginal Atrophy(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/vaginal-atrophy/DS00770/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Vaginal Dryness(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/vaginal-dryness/DS00550/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Weight Gain After Menopause(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/menopause-weight-gain/HQ01076/METHOD=print

Tutorials

Menopause(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/menopauseintroduction/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/menopauseintroductionspanish/htm/index.htm

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Hot Flashes(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Hot+Flashes%22
ClinicalTrials.gov: Premenopause(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Premenopause%22
ClinicalTrials.gov: Menopause(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=menopause

Research

Nonhormonal Therapies Have Little Effect on Hot Flashes(National Cancer Institute) - http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/hotflash0506
Progesterone-Like Drug Controls Hot Flashes(National Cancer Institute) - http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/hot-flashes0306
Survivors of Childhood Cancer More Likely to Face Early Menopause(National Cancer Institute) - http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/coping/child-cancer-early-menopause

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Health related quality of life after combined hormone replacement therapy:... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18719013&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Efficacy of contrast-enhanced CT in assessing the endometrium. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18716092&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Recognition of depression among women presenting with menopausal symptoms. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18709704&tool=MedlinePlus
Menopause -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(menopause[majr]+NOT+menopause,premature[mh])+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
Premature menopause -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=menopause,premature[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])+&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Dictionaries/Glossaries

Menopause Glossary(North American Menopause Society) - http://www.menopause.org/glossary.aspx

Directories

Credentialed NAMS Menopause Practitioners(North American Menopause Society) - Links to PDF - http://www.menopause.org/Portals/0/Content/PDF/MPlist.pdf
Menopause Resources(National Women's Health Information Center) - http://womenshealth.gov/menopause/resources/

Organizations

Hormone Foundation - http://www.hormone.org/
National Institute on Aging - http://www.nia.nih.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://www.nia.nih.gov/Espanol/
National Women's Health Information Center(Dept. of Health and Human Services) - http://womenshealth.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://womenshealth.gov/espanol/
North American Menopause Society - http://www.menopause.org/

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Hormone Replacement Therapy - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hormonereplacementtherapy.html
Menstruation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/menstruation.html
Premature Ovarian Failure - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/prematureovarianfailure.html
Female Reproductive System - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/femalereproductivesystem.html
Seniors - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/seniors.html
Women - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/women.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Menopause is the National Institute on Aging - http://www.nia.nih.gov/

Menopause - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/menopause.html