Decoding Menopause: Understanding the Stages

Menopause is a complex journey for women, but we hear all kinds of terms used to describe it--premenopause, postmenopause, perimenopaus. Today we dive into what it all means, as well as the stages of the menopause transition as women enter midlife.

• Hear about the scope of the condition, and how many women it affects both worldwide and in the USA
• Understand the reproductive stage, the menopause transition, and the postmenopausal stage
• Learn what happens during the menopause transition
• It's not just hot flashes and night sweats; find out what else might be expected during menopause transition
• Sort through the alphabet soup of options to treat this condition

Understanding these stages is crucial so that both men and women can know what to expect, and be better prepared to manage the changes at this time.

Key Moments in this episode are:

00:28 The worldwide population of women over age 50

01:50 A basic division of the reproductive and menopausal stages

02:37 Menstrual changes during the menopause transition

04:09 Fertility during the menopause transition

04:31 Entering the postmenopause timeframe

06:07 Acronyms used to describe hormone replacement therapy

06:56 Understanding bioidentical hormones

08:18 Just exactly where Premarin comes from

09:17 The role of compounding pharmacies