We have tried to give a condensed explanation of the menopause below. There are so many excellent websites and lealfets around - many of which we have linked to further down the page.

What is menopause?

The monthly menstrual cycle usually continues until a woman is about 45 but this is a bit of a generalisation. Changes can occur in some women before 45 and some afterwards.
So at about 45 a woman's ovaries tend to start to fail. The hormones produced by the ovary also start to decrease, so the body levels of these hormones that have remained relatively static for years, start to fall.
This slow fall continues for about 10 years, levelling off to what are called post-menopausal levels in the mid-fifties. At some stage down this fall, a woman's period's stop, but what has to be remembered is that there are changes in the hormone levels before this happens and AFTER this happens.

• Sometimes a woman's periods carry on every month and then suddenly stop
• Sometimes they stutter with longer gaps between periods until they stop
• Sometimes they can become more frequent and then stop

Treatment - What is HRT?

Recommended web sites

A leaflet from Patient UK

A charity that aims to help women deal with problems they might experience while going through the menopause

A registered charity for women who have experienced a premature menopause

An information service for women interested in a natural approach to the menopause

An independant, clinician-led website