Menopause

Menopause is the natural shift a woman's body goes through when she is no longer at the age where bearing babies is a good idea. The body is smart like that. The Asians have a very nice way of considering this. They feel that once a woman no longer has the responsibility of bearing children, she can then live her life in exploration of her own personal desires. Her life is finally hers. It seems this is a much more positive way of thinking about the oft-dreaded menopause that some women would rather pretend doesn't exist. The next trick is to circumvent the all too typical hot-flash/mood swing/foggy-headed/who-is-this-monster person we have seen many women morph into during these “change of life” years. And it doesn't need to be accomplished with synthetic hormones or mood altering drugs. In fact, natural medicines can successfully support this natural female shift to alleviate the difficult and, therefore, unnecessary menopausal symptoms many women experience.

Perimenopause

This is a term that came into vogue in the late 20th century. It is not a natural occurrence like menopause. Peri-menopause means "around menopause". It means a woman has started to get typical menopausal symptoms at an inappropriately early age. Menopause should take place at 50 years old and last 6 to 18 months. That is normal physiology. There are always slight physiological differences between people, but it shouldn't stray far from these parameters. Certainly menopause should not start in the early 40's or last into the late 50's. This is not normal and can be significantly helped with natural medicines.