early menopause

the bottom line

Sometime during middle age, women stop having menstrual periods permanently. This is called menopause. Smokers reach menopause earlier than nonsmokers do. Some women might welcome an earlier menopause because they no longer have to deal with the inconvenience of menstrual periods, but actually, reaching menopause early is undesirable. It increases a woman's risk of some types of health problems, especially the bone disease osteoporosis.