Because of some confusion in terms, the term postmenopause is applied to women who have not experienced a menstrual period for a minimum of 12 months. A woman who still has her uterus (and who is neither pregnant nor lactating) can be declared to be in postmenopause once she has gone 12 full months with no flow at all.
Menopause is a stage in a woman's life when the primary functions of the ovary stops. These functions are
- Ripening and release of the ova
- Release of hormones that creates the uterine lining
- Shedding of uterine lining (during the menstrual period)
This stage signals the end of the fertile phase of a woman's life.
Symptoms usually experienced by postmenopausal are hot flashes (intense heat with sweating and rapid heartbeat), low sex drive, and weight gain.
Weight loss led to reduction in inflammation
Postmenopausal women who were overweight or obese and lost at least 5 percent of their body weight had a measurable reduction in markers of inflammation, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"Both obesity and inflammation have been shown to be related to several types of cancer, and this study shows that if you reduce weight, you can reduce inflammation as well," said Anne McTiernan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Prevention Center at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash.
