![]() A large study by the Institute of Cancer Research in London found that women who took hormone therapy for five years were 2.7 times more likely to develop breast cancer than those who did not. The risks are greater, for example, for users of oestrogen-progestagen hormone therapy than for oestrogen-only therapy. But it varies by the type of hormone therapy you take and it might vary depending on how long you take it for." I don't think we should beat around the bush about that. A risk is that it does increase the risk of cancer. "A benefit of HRT is that it's really good for symptoms. "All medications carry risk and benefits," Professor Hickey says. But it has been linked with breast and ovarian cancers. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), or menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) as it's now known, is currently the most effective type of treatment available for perimenopause symptoms more than 300,000 Australian women and about 12 million women in Western countries are using it. How effective is hormone replacement therapy? "That can go on for a number of years and the end of that transitional period is a year after the final menstrual period." "It's what's called the menopause transition when those symptoms start," Professor Hickey says. Womens' experiences vary greatly – some barely register anything. Periods can be less regular, lighter or heavier, last longer or be briefer. Symptoms also include hot flushes, changes in libido, mood swings, memory problems, vaginal dryness and a higher risk of osteoporosis. Some women describe perimenopause as a time of hormonal chaos akin to a second-wave puberty. In other cycles, ovulation might not occur at all. This can lead to ovulation occurring twice in a cycle, the second time during a period, which can lead to high hormone levels. It's a phase that lasts until menopause and, on average, begins when a woman is 47, although it can last from a year to a decade.Īs the body makes less oestrogen, the pituitary gland produces higher levels of signalling hormones – follicle-stimulating and luteinising hormones – in an effort to keep the ovaries producing eggs and to make oestrogen and progesterone levels "normal". ![]() Perimenopause is when a woman's ovaries begin to make less oestrogen and the body responds. Peri, a Greek word for "around" or "near" menopause refers to this transitional state. Technically speaking, the symptoms women experience in the lead-up to menopause are actually perimenopausal. The average age of menopause is about 51 but it can happen sooner, with most women experiencing symptoms in the lead-up – which brings us to perimenopause.Ĭomparing notes on perimenopause: there's a lot to talk about. When menopause happens before 40, regardless of the cause, it is called premature menopause. But some women can go through menopause early, either as a result of surgery such as hysterectomy, or damage to the ovaries such as from chemotherapy. Menopause is considered a normal part of ageing when it happens after the age of 40. (In a reproductive life spanning decades, the average Australian woman will have two or fewer babies.) “Specifically, menopause is the final menstrual period a woman experiences – it is a one-off event. “ represents the end of a woman’s reproductive life,” says Martha Hickey, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Melbourne. By the time puberty hits, only about 300,000 remain, and so it goes, through her adult life. A baby girl has more than a million eggs in her ovaries. Women are on a path to menopause from birth. ![]() The word itself stems from the Greek pausis ("pause") and men ("month"), meaning the "end of monthly cycles". On average, a woman in Australia will have 400 to 500 periods in her lifetime. What is menopause – and what is it with a "peri" in front? What happens to women experiencing it? What happens afterwards? And is there a male equivalent? What's menopause? ![]() Workplace policies to cater for menopausal employees are up for discussion too: Britain's Labour Party wants to mandate them for large organisations, and a major media company introduced one in October. In Britain, women are gathering at pop-up "menopause cafes" to swap notes on their experiences. Now it's starting to become more a part of the conversation. Or, for some women, nothing much at all.ĭespite being a fundamental biological transition affecting half the world’s population, the symptoms of menopause, from disturbed sleep to memory loss, have not been the stuff of dinner party banter, generally, nor a popular subject of chit-chat down the pub. "I promise that, afterwards, there’s life."ĭisturbed sleep. You have to surrender to it, British comedian Dawn French proclaimed last year of menopause. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size
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