Like mother, like daughter. At least when it comes to how old you might be when you enter menopause. Your mother's age when she hit menopause may be the most important factor according to an article on WebMD.com.
Immediately upon making that statement, however, the article began to backtrack.
Mom's age may be the most significant factor ... except in cases where it isn't. What this means is that while the age of your mother is the biggest factor, there are others.
Causes both known and unknown can throw off the transition that is menopause. Some causes are genetic, some are not.
Do you smoke? Or did Mom before she was menopausal? If you do, you may not reach menopause till a later age than she did. If she smoked and you don't, you may be younger than she was at menopause.
Have you had chemotherapy? Menopause can come earlier due to the effects of chemo on your ovaries.
Have you had surgery on your ovaries? Your doctor may have implemented hormonal suppression as a treatment. This can have an impact on when menopause will occur.
What is your ethnicity? Early menopause is more likely to happen in women who are African-American or Hispanic than in women who are Caucasian, whose average age for menopause is 51.5 years of age, according to WebMD.com. It is likely to occur later in women who are Chinese or Japanese.
A test that measures levels of anti-Mullerian hormone, or AMH, can help predict when menopause might come. The test identifies when fertility potential is lower than usual. An Iranian study was able to predict menopause 15-18 years before it occurred based on low AMH levels, as reported by EveryDayHealth.com.
There are some factors that do not affect when menopause will occur. For example, when you had your first period will not have any bearing on when they go'll away.
Whether you have ever been pregnant, how often you have been pregnant, and whether or not you have ever breastfed also makes no difference.
Hormonal contraceptive use has no impact on when you will arrive at menopause.
There are signs that things are slowing down that individual women will notice. Menopausal symptoms generally begin to appear at age 45-47, and last anywhere from two to five years.
You can figure menopause is looming if you have been having irregular periods, hot flashes, joint pain or mood changes.
You'll know that menopause is probably right around the corner when you've missed three or more consecutive periods. When they've stopped completely for a year, the guesswork is a thing of the past. Congratulations, you have arrived.
Sources:
When Will You Reach Menopause? Retrieved Feb. 24, 2015.
http://www.webmd.com/menopause/features/menopause-age-prediction
http://www.webmd.com/menopause/features/menopause-age-prediction?page=2
Predicting When Menopause Will Occur. Retrieved Feb. 24, 2015.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/menopause/timing-and-age-of-menopause.aspx
Visit Jody's website at http://www.ncubator.ca
Reviewed February 25, 2015
by Michele Blacksberg RN