Cate and I joke about being the women menopause forgot.
We’ve both blogged about it. See Cate’s super popular post about still menstruating at 53 and a half and my post from four years ago about being late to the menopause party.
Luckily, healthwise, it’s not a bad thing.
I was happy to read in the New York Times that there’s some health benefits to late menopause as well.
There’s actually some very good news for you if you went through menopause later rather than earlier: You may live longer.
True, late menopause is associated with an increased risk of breast, ovarian and endometrial cancers. But “on balance, most of it is good news: Later age at menopause is associated with better health, longer life and less cardiovascular disease,” said Ellen B. Gold, a professor emeritus in public health at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine and principal investigator of the university’s Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, or SWAN.
Those who go through menopause later are at lower risk for heart disease and stroke, and also tend to have stronger bones, less osteoporosis and fewer fractures than those who go through menopause earlier. The average age of menopause, when a woman has her last menstrual period, is 51, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Even my Garmin knows something’s up! Just today it suggested that I start tracking my periods. That made me laugh. The software knows how old I am.
Good luck with tracking and predicting Garmin. These days it’s more like the menstrual lottery.
