There is not complete agreement about the meaning and use of terms that are used regarding menopause. The term menopause itself has different meanings, and there are other terms such as menopausal transition , perimenopause , postmenopause , and climacteric that are used in different ways by different people. There are different causes of menopause. The decreases are related to changes over time in the ovary.
Surgical menopause is when both the uterus and ovaries are removed.
Menopause can also be caused by loss of the working of ovarian follicles such as occurs with chemotherapy or radiation, or sometimes with medical problems, such as hypothyroidism. When researchers use the term menopausal transition it usually means the period of time before menopause when women experience changes in their bleeding and spotting. When researchers use the term post menopause , it usually means the remainder of a woman's life after menopause. For more about how our study has contributed to a refinement of these definitions, click on What We Have Learned .