Does menopause occur only with age?
Menopause occurs when the ovaries ceases to secrete the sex-hormone (estrogen and progesterone). Usually it occurs as the age advances and ovaries mature. However, in certain cases like cancer – chemotherapy, radiation therapy or operative surgery on the ovaries or rarely, per-maturely the ovaries stop functioning and / or are removed leading to the symptoms of menopause. Other operative surgeries to remove uterus and the removal of uterus with ovaries (Hysterectomy) will also lead to menopause. At what age does a woman typically reach menopause? The average age of menopause worldwide is 51 years old. But there is no way to predict when an individual woman will enter menopause. The age at which a woman starts having menstrual periods is also not related to the age of menopause onset. Most women reach menopause between the ages of 45 and 55 years, but menopause may occur as early as the 30s or 40s or may not occur until a woman reaches her 60s! As a rough ‘rule of thumb,’ women tend to
