Summary

Menopause is the natural senescence of ovarian hormonal production, and it eventually occurs in every woman. The age at which menopause occurs varies between cultures and ethnicities. Menopause can also be the result of medical or surgical interventions, in which case it can occur at a much younger age. Primary symptoms, as well as attitudes toward menopause, also vary between cultures. Presently, the gold standard for treatment of menopause symptoms is hormone therapy; however, many other options have also been shown to be efficacious, and active research is ongoing to develop better and safer treatments.

In a high-resource setting, the sequelae/physiologic changes associated with menopause can impact a woman’s physical and mental health for the rest of her life. In addition to “hot flashes,” other less well-known conditions include heart disease, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, depression, and cognitive decline. In the United States, cardiac disease is the leading cause of mortality in women over the age of 65. The growing understanding of the physiology of menopause is beginning to inform strategies either to prevent or to attenuate these common health conditions. As the baby boomers age, the distribution of age cohorts will increase the burden of disease toward post-reproductive women. In addition to providing appropriate medical care, public health efforts must focus on this population due to the financial impact of this age cohort of women.