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WOMEN experience the menopause at the end of their natural reproductive life – after 12 consecutive months without a period. The average age is 51.

Symptoms (known as the perimenopause) typically start around 45 but can occur in the 20s or 50s. Factors include your mother’s age when she had the menopause. Smokers are more likely to reach it earlier, while a hysterectomy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy can also trigger an early menopause.

The big ‘M’ doesn’t have to spell miser extract written by experts including Dr Henpicked website founder plenty you can do to ensure the ‘chan

Although you’ve reached menopause after a year without periods, annoyingly this doesn’t necessarily mean an end to all your symptoms. They usually last between four and eight years, but some women experience hot flushes, for example, for decades after. To avoid unwanted pregnancy, menopausal women under 50 still need to use contraception for two years after their last period. If you are over 50, continue for one year. Surprisingly, it’s the run-up to the menopause – when you are still having periods but your oestrogen levels are dropping – that cause many of the most common symptoms, including:

Changes to your periods. They may become less frequent or lighter, but mood swings and lethargy, can worsen.

Hot flushes.

Three out of four experience uncomfortable sensations of heat which come on very suddenly and spread across your chest, neck and face.

Night sweats. Many women wake up soaked in sweat, needing to change their bedclothes.

Changes in sex drive.

Bath oils used to soothe eczema in children have no clinical benefit, a trial has found. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, suggested the NHS could direct the £23million they spend each year on the additives – as much as a third of the eczema treatment budget – elsewhere.

Mobile phones could be behind a rise in brain tumours, experts claim. The Office of National Statistics says cases of glioblastoma – which kills more than two thirds of sufferers within two years – have soared from 983 to 2,531 between 1995 and 2015 Reduced libido can occur when hormone levels fall.

Disturbed sleep. Many women find they have a more unsettled night’s sleep when perimenopausal.

Weight gain. You might notice extra pounds, particular around your middle.

Vaginal dryness. Lack of oestrogen can cause the tissues around your vagina to become thinner and drier, making sex uncomfortable.

Low mood. Some women find symptoms of depression and anxiety worsen and interfere with quality of life. in England. Study leader Alasdair Philips, of Children with Cancer UK, said the location of these tumours in the front and sides of the brain could indicate that mobile and cordless phones may be responsible.

Women who regularly eat fast food could struggle to have children, a study has shown. Those who scoffed junk four or more times a week took nearly a month longer to get pregnant than those who were not fast food fans. The report in Human Reproduction suggested a good diet rich with fruit and vegetables boosted chances of conceiving.

EXERCISE HELPS

Tackle stress levels. Choose a relaxation technique and indulge regularly, be it a hobby, long baths, yoga or meditation – or just chatting with friends.

Eat cholesterol and fats, vital to produce testosterone. Good fats – so not endless cakes! – are in avocado, oily fish and eggs.

Enjoy phytoestrogens. These plant-based foods exert an oestrogenic effect. Oats, rice, beans, lentils, yams and mung beans are great. When your hormones are balanced, you generally feel good. But when levels fluctuate – as during the perimenopause – it can trigger telltale symptoms.

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