The postmenopause is the period of life after the menopause. Increasingly, the term menopause is used in a different sense to its original meaning. The term menopause then refers to the total postmenopausal period and thus is synonymous to the term postmenopause. The World Health Organization defines menopause as the permanent cessation of menstruation resulting from the loss of ovarian follicular activity. Early menopause is a term sometimes used to denote the first few years directly after menopause, in which still considerable, endogenous oestradiol activity can be present.
Late menopause is the period thereafter.
The perimenopause can be defined as the period of time around the menopause in which marked menstrual cycle changes occur, often in conjunction with vasomotor symptoms and in which no period of 12 consecutive months of amenorrhea has yet occurred. The term climacteric refers to the period of menopausal transition. Many, but not all, are directly related to the aging process of the ovaries. Body changes and mood swings are intermingled with changes in family and social environment. There is great variability in climacteric complaints and symptoms, both between cultures as well as between individuals within a culture.