How Long Does Menopause Last?

Menopause is a landmark period in any woman's life. True, a woman's life continues beyond menopause, as usual. However, there is one major difference: beyond menopause she cannot bear any more children. Menopause is that time of the life of a woman beyond which her ovaries cease to function, and this is what causes the cessation of the menstruation cycle.

Scientifically, you can define menopause as the period wherein a woman ceases to have her periods for 12 months at a stretch. As mentioned above, the period of menopause is one of transition, of change. And as usually happens with change, the impact can be one of two - the person experiencing menopause may experience intense depression, a sense of loss. This is because this event marks the closure of one phase of life - no more child bearing, periods, none of the routine things associated with being a woman so far in her life since she attained puberty. On the other hand, she may experience relief, at the prospect of finally living a relaxed life without the hassles and attendant problems that come with having periods and child bearing.

The menopause is unfortunately a permenant thing. Every single woman gets it when they get older and there is no turning back. The reason this is, is because every woman is born with a certain amount of eggs in them. As time goes on we have periods to release those eggs and we only release a few at a time. We never develop new eggs which is something that many women do not know, and so at a certain age our eggs run out and there is no more need for our periods. So we go through the menopause which is the last ever period which we will ever have. From then on it all goes downhill and our bodies are more suspetible to diseases like Osteoporosis. So the menopause is a permenant thing and it cannot be stopped.