Menstrual cycle is a natural phenomenon and some day, it automatically stops functioning, which is known as menopause. Generally, one feels that menopause take place when a woman grows old but it is not true since there is no co-relation between the woman’s age and menopause. In recent times, many cases of early menopause have been cited due to various reasons.

There are two types of it, one is early menopause and the second one being premature menopause, both the terms often confuse women since the meaning is not understood in its right sense. When a woman’s menstrual cycle stops before she attains the age of 45 years, it is known as early menopause whereas when it happen before 40, it is a premature type.

With advancement in medical science, experts have begun realising the thin line between both types and with many women experiencing either early or premature menopause symptoms, there has been research findings to detect the causes behind them. Since the menopause symptoms could cause irritation, frustration and physical trauma due to hormonal changes for a young woman, inability to diagnose why the symptoms are seen at an early age often confuses the medical practitioners.

Premature menopause is given a medical term as Premature Ovarian Failure or POV. In this situation, woman’s ovaries that are a major organ of women’s reproductive system, fail to function and prevents production of eggs or hormone production required for ovulation. The main cause behind this type of menopause is autoimmune disorders that force the body to create antibodies to fight with ovaries and menstrual cycle. It is found out that in many cases the disorder tends to pass on from generations to generations. In such cases, woman is either born with less number of eggs or erratic X chromosomes that intrude with the fertility process.

When the woman has to get menses stopped due to some medical complication, it is known as surgical menopause. For example, women with diagnosis of medical conditions like endometriosis or ovarian cancer, do not have a choice to get the oopherectomy or hysterectomy done to avoid further damage causing the body. Even treatments like chemotherapy or radiation in women with cancer cause destruction of healthful cells. I such a condition, cells actively involved in nourishment and building of hair, digestive system and reproductive system suffer the maximum damage. Women

Though uncommon, premature menopause can be also caused by the internal infectious conditions like mumps and tuberculosis, which makes maintaining hormonal balance difficult for the body.

Since early or premature menopause is usually caused by some medical condition, the symptoms too are quite extreme. Women tend to get irritated, go into gloomy situation and often suffer from giddiness since estrogen levels in the body tend to fall rapidly.

Moral support from the family and friends and proper medication post thorough check up can reduce the severity of symptoms caused due to menopause. These days, medical practitioners also prescribe hormone replacement therapy or HRT, estrogen patches to treat the symptoms of menopause.