Will any body please tell me what does menopause mean....i want sereous answers.?

Menopause is the physiological cessation of menstrual cycles associated with advancing age in women. The menopause is sometimes referred to as change of life or climacteric. The condition also exists in some of the other species that experience such cycles, such as pilot whales.
Menopause occurs as the ovaries stop producing estrogen, causing the reproductive system to gradually shut down. The term menopause comes from the Greek roots 'meno-' (month) and 'pausis' (a pause, a cessation).

"Menopause" vs. "Climacteric"

Technically, menopause refers to the cessation of menses; whereas the gradual process through which this occurs, which typically takes a year but may last as little as six months or more than five years, is known as climacteric.

Very early symptoms that precede menopause, referred to as perimenopause, typically begin in the late 30s or early 40s. Popular use replaces climacteric with menopause.

Age of onset

The average onset of menopause is 51 years, but some women enter menopause at a younger age, especially if they have had cancer or another serious illness and undergone chemotherapy. Premature menopause (or premature ovarian failure) is defined as menopause occurring before the age of 40, and occurs in 1% of women. Other causes of premature menopause include autoimmune disorders, thyroid disease, and diabetes mellitus. Premature menopause is diagnosed by measuring the levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH); the levels of these hormones will be higher if menopause has occurred. Rates of premature menopause have been found to be significantly higher in both fraternal and identical twins; approximately 5% of twins reach menopause before the age of 40. The reasons for this are not completely understood. Transplants of ovarian tissue between identical twins have been successful in restoring fertility.

Risk of osteoporosis

Post-menopausal women, especially Caucasian women of European descent, are at increased risk of osteoporosis.

One reason for this risk is the dramatic change in female sex hormone levels that occurs: These hormones play a major role in female skeletal development and changes lead to an acceleration of bone mass loss rate.

Menopause in other species

Unlike humans, other animals rarely experience menopause. This may simply be due to their comparatively shorter lifespans. However, recent studies have shown menopause in gorillas, with an average age of 44 at onset.

The Grandmother hypothesis considers that the menopause arose in human evolution, because later life infertility could actually confer an evolutionary advantage by causing women to divert their attention away from any new offspring in order to free up time to help with the care of her existing children and grandchildren.

[edit] Perimenopause

Perimenopause refers to the time preceding menopause, during which the production of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone diminish and become more irregular. During this period, fertility diminishes. Menopause is arbitrarily defined as beginning when a minimum of twelve months without menstruation have passed. Symptoms of perimenopause can begin as early as age 35, although most women become aware of them much later. It can last for a few months or for several years. The duration of perimenopause cannot be predicted in advance.

Etiology

A natural or physiological menopause is that which occurs as a part of a woman's normal aging process. However, menopause can be surgically induced by such procedures as oophorectomy, removal of the ovaries, which is often done in conjunction with hysterectomy.

The cessation of menses is the result of the eventual atresia of almost all oocytes in the ovaries. This causes an increase in circulating FSH and LH levels as there are a decreased number of oocytes responding to these hormones and producing estrogen. This decrease in the production of estrogen leads to the post-menopausal symptoms of hot flashes, insomnia, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, vaginal atrophy and depression.

Cigarette smoking has been found to decrease the age at menopause by as much as one year, and women who have undergone hysterectomy with ovary conservation go through menopause 3.7 years earlier than average. However, premature menopause (before the age of 40) is generally idiopathic.

Symptoms

As the body adapts to the changing levels of natural hormones, vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and palpitations, psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, irritability, mood swings and lack of concentration, and atrophic symptoms such as vaginal dryness and urgency of urination appear. Together with these symptoms, the woman may also have increasingly erratic menstrual periods.

The clinical features of menopause are caused by lessening amounts of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone in the woman's body.

Menopause is that period of time when a woman is no longer capable of producing viable eggs for reproduction. The menses slows then stops. During this period, which may last several years, hormonal changes cause hot flashes, mood swings, depression, hysterics, and other episodes that men eventually learn to not mess with us!
Menopause is when a woman stops producing eggs every month and her period also stops. Meno (menses - period) Pause (stop).

This happens naturally and has been referred to as "the change of life" or just "the change".
Menopause is a stage in life when a woman stops having her monthly period.It is a normal part of aging, marking the end of a woman's reproductive years. More information and remedies at http://useinfo4.blogspot.com/