Unveiling Its Secrets

AS WOMEN age, menopause is an occurrence in their lives. Yet, it has been greatly misunderstood. According to the book The Silent Passage​—Menopause, 19th-​century obstetricians believed that menopause “unhinges the female nervous system and deprives women of their personal charm.”

Such misconceptions persist. As a result, many women are fearful and apprehensive about the prospect of menopause. Overcoming the psychological problems associated with it was referred to as “one of the most difficult tasks of a woman’s life,” in the book Natural Menopause​—The Complete Guide to a Woman’s Most Misunderstood Passage.

In societies in which emphasis is placed on youthfulness and youthful appearance, the onset of menopausal symptoms may herald a misconception: an abrupt end of youth and the beginning of old age. Thus, some women have come to fear menopause because it seems to represent the threshold of a new, less desirable period in life. It has even been viewed by some as “partial death.”

Modern women need not suffer in ignorance as they pass through this period of life. The secrets of menopause are being unveiled. More research is being done, and therapies to ease the transition are being developed. Magazines, newspapers, and books are focusing on the topic, providing explanations for questions that some were once embarrassed to ask. The medical profession, too, is more informed on the problems women may encounter.

Why all the attention to this subject? Because a better understanding of menopause can remove the fears, the superstitions, and the frustrations that many women have. Women in many countries are living longer, and they want to break what has seemed to be a conspiracy of silence on the subject and to be informed. They want simple, straightforward answers. Rightfully so, since many of them have over one third of their life to live after menopause.

Demographic patterns in the United States predict a 50-​percent increase over the next decade in the number of women of menopausal age. Such women desire to know about the health risks, the hot flashes (also called hot flushes), the mood swings, the discomforts, and the physical and emotional changes. Why do these things happen? Does a woman’s productive life finish at menopause? Does menopause alter a woman’s personality? The following articles will examine these questions.