ICD-10 Code
N95 Menopausal and other perimenopausal disorders.
26.1. GENERAL INFORMATION
Menopause, also known as the climacteric, supersedes the childbearing period in a woman's life (see Section 3.2). Menopause is the time when the female body shows a physiological, genetically determined decline of the reproductive function which goes side by side with getting old. Knowledge of physiological and patho-physiological processes occurring at menopause is extremely important since it enables one to administer prevention and treatment for some diseases associated with the quality of life and duration of lifespan.
26.1.1. Epidemiology
Starting in the 1980s the world saw a critical change in its demographics. At present the global population, including female population, is getting older progressively. According to the WHO, by 2025 the average lifespan will be about 70, and 20% of the global population will be over 60. At this rate 46% of all women around the world will be at an age over 45, and the number of women at an age 60 and older will be about one billion by the year 2050.
These predictions are not unfounded. At present, the average lifespan of women in advanced countries is as long as 72-80. Over the last 15 years the Unites States of America have seen the number of women over 50 increase from 30 to 43 million. In Germany, 95% of women live long enough to attain the age of menopause. In Denmark, over 50% of women are at an age 40-50, in Australia 13% (2.1 million) women are postmenopausal.
The average menopausal age is 50.8-52. Thus, from one third to about a half of her life a woman spends in the climacteric period, a condition of physiological estrogen deficiency. It should be pointed out that the menopausal age has its distinctive features as to the population, race or individual characteristics; some women experience menopause significantly earlier than the mean population age.