Nowadays, many women are already in their menopause stage when they get into their early 40’s. Normally, women experiencing such condition will seek a doctor, and would then find out that it was just an early menopause. But what is early menopause?

Early menopause is a menopause before the age of 40. It may occur spontaneously as a result of early failure of the ovaries, or may be caused surgically when a woman has her ovaries removed, or caused chemically by chemotherapy for cancer. Symptoms of early menopause are basically the same as with that of a natural menopause.

A Deeper Understanding on Early Menopause Causes

• Premature Ovarian Failure (POF) is another name for naturally-occurring premature menopause. In this case, it doesn't necessarily mean that your ovaries are out of eggs.   Even though sometimes this is the case and thus referred to as premature menopause, there are times you stop having periods not because you no longer have eggs, but because your body isn't responding to the signals to ovulate.
• Infection is also linked with early menopause. Infections such as tuberculosis and the mumps can infect the ovaries, affecting your hormonal balance. But this is extremely rare to happen.
• Surgical Removal of Ovaries. Based on some medical findings, the surgical removal of the ovaries in an ovulating woman will result in an immediate menopause, sometimes termed a surgical menopause. In this case, there is no incidence of perimenopause because after surgery, a woman will normally experience the signs and symptoms of menopause. In cases of surgical menopause, women often report that the sudden start of menopausal symptoms results in particularly severe symptoms, but this is not always the case.
• Radiation or Cancer Therapy. Cancer therapies such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy can result in menopause if given to an ovulating woman. In this case, the symptoms of menopause may begin during the cancer treatment or may develop in the months following the treatment.
  

Possible Early Menopause Symptoms

Early Menopause Symptoms may include some physical, psychological and emotional symptoms.  Here are some of the most prevalent symptoms in almost all women experiencing or have experienced early menopause:

• Irregular periods
• Mood swings
• Infertility
• Irritability
• Hot flashes
• Anxiety
• Night sweats
• Depression
• Dry mouth
  

Treatments for Early Menopause Symptoms

At present, Hormone Replacement Therapy or HRT is the widely used treatment for early menopause and other types of menopause. Based on a certain assumption, it may prevent discomfort and health problems caused by diminished circulating estrogen and progesterone hormones. HRT includes a series of drugs intended to synthetically improve hormone levels. The main hormones concerned are progesterone, estrogens, and sometimes testosterone.

However, some medical studies have shown that hormone replacement therapy may indeed be more dangerous than it is beneficial. In fact, it was once prescribed to prevent illnesses related with menopausal women, including breast cancer, heart disease, and dementia before.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can offer a number of benefits. But you should remember that most benefits do not come without downsides, and so you must be carefully in weighing up your decision with a physician, before committing to such kind of therapy.