{"id":85108,"date":"2025-05-07T08:23:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T07:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herbalreality.com\/?post_type=condition&p=85108"},"modified":"2025-05-07T08:26:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T07:26:18","slug":"menopause","status":"publish","type":"condition","link":"https:\/\/www.herbalreality.com\/condition\/menopause\/","title":{"rendered":"Menopause"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Menopause is a natural transition for all women and people assigned female at birth. Discover how to support associated symptoms and hormonal health with herbal medicine.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding menopause<\/h2><\/path><\/svg><\/div>
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\"Menopause\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Menopause (also known as the climacteric) is a natural life event affecting all women and people assigned female at birth; it is defined as 12 months after the last menstrual period which usually occurs around 40\u201350 years of age (1). Menopause can be diagnosed in women not on contraception, who have not had a period for 12 months or who have had a hysterectomy, as long as other conditions have been excluded (2). Blood tests are not considered an accurate diagnostic tool due to fluctuating hormone levels although they may be used in individuals under 45 who are experiencing menopausal symptoms (2,3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perimenopause is the period of hormonal fluctuations lasting two to eight years prior to the cessation of menstrual periods (4). Due to hormonal changes, perimenopause can cause symptoms including irregular menstrual periods, hot flushes, sleep disturbances, migraines, breast pain and mood changes (5). Perimenopause can be diagnosed in women over the age of 40 if they are experiencing a combination of irregular periods and vasomotor symptoms via clinical case history taking (2). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average duration of menopausal symptoms is eight years, although 10% of women experience symptoms for over 10 years (6). The Study of Women\u2019s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) study revealed racial and ethnic differences in menopause, including vasomotor symptom duration; the longest was a median of 10.1 years experienced by African American women compared to 4.8 years in Japanese women (7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many as 20\u201340% of women experience depression during perimenopause, and women entering perimenopause with no prior history of depression were twice as likely to develop depressive symptoms in comparison to pre-menopausal women of a similar age (8,9). Anxiety and irritability are also common symptoms of menopause, and research has indicated associations with age, stress levels, depression, and sleep disturbance (10). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In postmenopause, symptoms can continue with lower oestrogen levels causing vaginal dryness, reduced libido as well as increased risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis (11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority of women experience some symptoms during menopause with variable severity with 25% of women describing symptoms as severe or debilitating (6,12). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are treatment options, including conventional and herbal medicine as well as effective nutrition and lifestyle changes to ease the transition.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How does menopause work?<\/h2><\/path><\/svg><\/div>
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\"How<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Menopause is a natural phase of life occurring at an average age of 51 (12). It happens due to there no longer being enough eggs to release, leading to reduced ovarian function and production of hormones, particularly oestrogen (6). For some people, a decline in hormones may occur due to a health related condition or treatment which then initiates menopause including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n