Oprah Winfrey reveals she felt she would die during menopause: 5 extremely important things to know about menopause

Oprah Winfrey recently opened up about her personal journey with menopause. She spoke about how the symptoms grew stronger, which led to her putting a temporary pause on her eponymous book club, Oprah's Book Club.“I felt literally like I was going to die every single night,” Winfrey told ABC News. She revealed that during the menopause phase, she experienced a loss of concentration, heart palpitations, and a racing or irregular heartbeat, which she said she hadn’t associated with the symptoms of menopause. "I didn't have night sweats, and I didn't have hot flashes, but I had never heard that heart palpitations [were] a symptom of menopause," she said. Oprah Winfrey’s revelation has reignited the conversation about menopause. Let’s take a look at menopause and signs and much more.Menopause is a natural biological process that marks the end of a woman’s menstrual cycle and reproductive years. Medically, menopause is defined as the point when a woman has not had a menstrual period for 12 consecutive months due to the ovaries no longer producing eggs and significantly reducing the production of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone.Remember, it is not a disease or disorder, but a normal phase in a woman's life. The time leading up to menopause is called the menopausal transition or perimenopause.When does menopause occur?Most women step into the menopausal transition between ages 45 and 55. But it can also happen as early as before 40 years of age. This is due to certain chromosomal abnormalities, autoimmune disorders, or other unknown causes. Such a condition is known as premature menopause. Though women reach menopause at different ages, the average age of menopause is 52 in the United States.How to know if your menopause starts?You will know when you know. Well, you will only know that you’ve reached menopause when you have not had a period or spotting for a full year. The transition which leads to menopause, known as perimenopause, can last for several years. This is when women begin to experience symptoms.The signs and symptoms experienced during and following the menopausal transition vary substantially from person to person. While some have few symptoms, others can be severe enough to affect their daily activities. Some of the signs and symptoms associated with menopause include: