Early Menopause

What causes Early Menopause?

Autoimmune Disorder
The body's immune system, which normally fights off diseases, mistakenly attacks a part of its own reproductive system. This hurts the ovaries and prevents them from making female hormones (estrogen, progesterone) that regulate the reproductive system.

Chromosomal Irregularity
Some cases of early menopause are caused by defects on an X chromosome, also known as "fragile X syndrome". Women have two X chromosomes and even though only one of these chromosomes is active, a defect on either one can cause early menopause.

Radiation Therapy and/or Chemotherapy
With the rise in cancer treatments has come a rise in

early menopause due to these treatments. Unfortunately, the significant doses of radiation or chemotherapy used to kill cancer can cause ovarian damage - resulting in early menopause.

Total Hysterectomy and Oophorectomy
In this case, women experience early menopause after removal of both of the ovaries (a bilateral oophorectomy) or removal of the uterus, both fallopian tubes, and both ovaries (a total hysterectomy). Because both ovaries are removed, women's estrogen and progesterone levels drop, leading immediately to early menopause.

Ovarian Damage Due to Other Surgical Procedures
In some cases after a hysterectomy in which one ovary is left intact, it may fail. This happens when the ovary is damaged or otherwise affected by such procedures as cyst removal. In this case, the follicles on the remaining ovary slowly die out, resulting in early menopause. 

What are Early Menopause Symptoms?

All early menopause causes shown above, result in a decline in the production of estrogen in woman's ovaries. This decline causes a hormonal imbalance in a woman's body, which is responsible for the typical early menopause symptoms, like:

Not every woman will experience these early menopause symptoms, but it is a proven fact that if women are in early menopause, they will experience most of these symptoms in a more severe fashion than women going through menopause naturally. As shown in the diagram below, estrogen levels drop dramatically as a result of early menopause causes.



The decline of estrogen results in a hormonal imbalance in a woman's body and causes the common early menopause symptoms. Estrogen levels will not recover in postmenopause. Thereby, they can raise new health concerns or still cause menopause symptoms.