title: Menstruation and the menopausal transition.
abstract: This paper characterizes changes in menstrual bleeding during perimenopause,including bleeding changes that represent markers of the menopausal transition. Recent results from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation and other cohort studies are reviewed. Emerging data describing subpopulation differences in the transition experience are highlighted. When treating women in the midlife, clinicians should pay careful attention to medical factors, including both conditions and treatments, that may increase menstrual blood loss or alter menstrual cycle characteristics sufficiently to obscure the onset of the menopausal transition or the final menstrual period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA. harlow@umich.edu
authors.forename: Siobán D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Harlow
authors.forename: Pangaja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paramsothy
mesh_terms: D000568:Amenorrhea / Q000503:physiopathology; D015415:Biomarkers; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008597:Menstrual Cycle; D008598:Menstruation / Q000208:ethnology; D047648:Perimenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D012907:Smoking; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers