Women's Natural Transition; Nature Supports in Climacteric Life

Menopause marks the time in a woman's life when menstruation stops. According to the World Health Organization, it takes 12 months of amenorrhea to confirm that menopause has set in. In 1990, about 25 million women worldwide reached menopause; this number is expected to double by the late 2020s. About 130 million Indian women are expected to live beyond menopause by 2015. With the advent of modern non pharmacological measures, there is a general increase in life expectancy and quality of life, thus many women are likely to live for more than two decades beyond menopause, in an estrogen deficient state. Some of the menopausal symptoms experienced by these women can be severe enough to affect the normal lifestyle. Thus more attention is needed towards peri-and post-menopausal symptoms. Estrogen replacement therapy is the most effective treatment; however, it has its own limitations. The present need is to explore new options for the management of menopausal symptoms. There is increasing evidence suggesting that even the short-term practice of non pharmacological measures can decrease both psychological and physiological menopausal symptoms. Studies conclude that age old non pharmacological measures like Yoga, Mind fullness Based stress reduction and physical measures is fairly effective in managing menopausal symptoms.