Women's Health
Gynecology
The Timing of Menopause
Natural Menopause
While the average age for a woman in the United States to go
through natural menopause is 51, a range of anywhere from 40
to 60 is still considered normal. There are a number of women
who may experience natural menopause at a slightly earlier
age than would be normal for them. They include:
Possibly as many as one in three women will go through “instant” menopause
because of damage to the ovaries from surgery,
radiation to the pelvic area or chemotherapy.
-
Removal of the ovaries. A bilateral oophorectomy means that
both ovaries are removed. In this circumstance,
your body immediately stops producing estrogen and progesterone.
This can cause
you to experience intense, even violent, symptoms and usually
requires
hormone replacement therapy to help you bridge
the gap.
-
Hysterectomy and other pelvic surgeries. Surgeries
without removal of the ovaries generally do not cause
menopause. However, if the blood supply leading to your
ovaries is damaged, they
may deteriorate. In this case, symptoms,
and the treatment you should consider, will depend on how
fast you experience
ovary failure.
-
Radiation. Pelvic radiation therapy is likely to
cause permanent ovarian failure if the ovaries receive
significant doses of radiation. If you receive low dose/short term
treatment,
your ovaries may recover. However, even if your periods
resume, you may be infertile.
-
Chemotherapy. Depending on the drugs being used
during chemotherapy, your menstrual periods may just
become irregular or they may stop. Following chemotherapy, you
may
experience a few months up to several years of irregular
ovarian function. Your periods may eventually come
back (although you may remain infertile).
Menopause that takes place before the age of 40 and isn’t
related to surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or other medications
is called spontaneous premature menopause or premature ovarian
failure (POD) and occurs in a very small percentage of women.
It can occur as early as pre-puberty. When this happens to a
young girl, she will not develop sexually nor will she start
menstruation. In adults, the menstrual cycle will stop and the
woman will be infertile. The reason for POF is unexplained in
the majority of patients. Some suspected causes include:
