Early menopause

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history

Early menopause or premature ovarian failure is defined as menopause symptoms beginning before age 40 by the World Health Organization.[1] Most women experience the start of menopause between the ages of 45 and 55 years old.[2]

Signs and symptoms[edit | edit source]

Treatment[edit | edit source]

ME/CFS[edit | edit source]

A few patients with ME/CFS have reported undergoing early menopause, including Lynn Gilderdale, who had very severe ME/CFS.[citation needed]

Fibromyalgia[edit | edit source]

Early menopause and hysterectomy are linked to increased risk of fibromyalgia, either in the years shortly before the hysterectomy or in the year after.[3] A number of studies have found that women with fibromyalgia were more likely to have had a hysterectomy than the general population, and they were more likely to have poorer health and higher health costs than women with fibromyalgia who had not had a hysterectomy.[4] Fibromyalgia patients were more likely to have had a gynaecological surgery compared to other chronic pain patients, with rates of fibromyalgia being higher in patients who had hysterectomy, oophorectomy (ovary removal) and cystectomy (bladder or cyst removal) than only hysterectomy.[5]

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

  • 2015, Assessing the prevalence of autoimmune, endocrine, gynecologic, and psychiatric comorbidities in an ethnically diverse cohort of female fibromyalgia patients: does the time from hysterectomy provide a clue?[5] - (Full text)
  • 2012, Fibromyalgia and hysterectomy: the impact on health status and health care costs[4] - (Abstract)
  • 2009, Increased frequencies of hysterectomy and early menopause in fibromyalgia patients: a comparative study[3] - (Full text)

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. World Health Organization. "GA30.6 Premature ovarian failure". ICD-11 - International Classification of Diseases. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  2. National Health Service. "Early menopause". National Health Service. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Pamuk, Ömer Nuri; Dönmez, Salim; Çakir, Necati (May 1, 2009). "Increased frequencies of hysterectomy and early menopause in fibromyalgia patients: a comparative study". Clinical Rheumatology. 28 (5): 561–564. doi:10.1007/s10067-009-1087-1. ISSN 1434-9949.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Santoro, Maya S.; Cronan, Terry A.; Adams, Rebecca N.; Kothari, Dhwani J. (November 2012). "Fibromyalgia and hysterectomy: the impact on health status and health care costs". Clinical Rheumatology. 31 (11): 1585–1589. doi:10.1007/s10067-012-2051-z. ISSN 1434-9949. PMID 22875702.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Brooks, Larry; Hadi, Joseph; Amber, Kyle T; Weiner, Michelle; La Riche, Christopher L; Ference, Tamar (August 20, 2015). "Assessing the prevalence of autoimmune, endocrine, gynecologic, and psychiatric comorbidities in an ethnically diverse cohort of female fibromyalgia patients: does the time from hysterectomy provide a clue?". Journal of Pain Research. 8: 561–569. doi:10.2147/JPR.S86573. ISSN 1178-7090. PMC 4548754. PMID 26316807.