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Abstract

Menopause is a clinically discernible clue symbolic of the multitude of changes preceding or following the cessation of menses by many years. Because of the time span involved, separating changes observed in the menopausal transition from other age-related maturational events presents serious methodologic problems. Of the host of psychologic and psychosomatic symptoms, only hot flushes and associated sweats occur more frequently in women during this epoch, while an interplay between hormonal and age-related effects is assumed in atrophic changes involving the genitourinary organs. The relation between menopause and osteoporosis is suggestive but not proven, as is the risk for cardiovascular disease. Estrogen may be useful for the management of vasomotor instability, the symptoms associated with atrophy of the genitourinary tract, and in the prophylaxis of osteoporosis, but not in the treatment of anxiety, depression and other psychiatric disorders.