The Perimenopause Syndrome: 21^st Century “Vapors” or Legitimate Disorder

Nancy King Reame, MSN, PhD

University of Michigan

According to the definition of the World Health Organization, the perimenopause is the period immediately prior to menopause when endocrinological, biological and clinical features of approaching menopause commence, continuing for at least the first year after menopause. At the turn of the new century, in the US alone, there is some 35 million perimenopausal women , with half a million women added annually to the midlife population. By the year 2025, the number of newly post-menopausal women in the United States is expected to double. As a result of focused attention on the perimenopause by women’s health researchers in the last decade, a number of previously held assumptions and cultural expectations about the nature, timing and role of estrogen withdrawal in menopausal “complaints” have been reconsidered. The presentation will summarize new findings about the putative contributions of menopause to mid-life depression, loss of sexual desire, insomnia and hot flash severity. Cross-cultural data from US populations will be highlighted.