Early menopause often creeps up on women in their forties in uncomfortable ways. It may leave them feeling like they are suffering from a chronic, if mild, case of the flu. It can wreak havoc on their emotions by precipitating severe mood shifts; and it can leave them absolutely bewildered about why they are feeling as they do. But early menopause is neither a physical nor emotional illness; it is simply a natural part of the aging process.

Early menopause is surprisingly common, and for those women who held off on starting families because they were busy with careers or other responsibilities, it can be a most unwelcome surprise. Many women, therefore, would benefit from learning early in life if they are likely to experience early menopause, so that they can plan their families accordingly.

Unfortunately, there is no definite indicator that one woman is more likely than the next to experience early menopause. The onset of menopause is as unpredictable as the onset of a girl's first menstrual cycle, yet women would most definitely benefit if they could prepare for early menopause.

There is one hope: the tendency to early menopause may be inherited. To learn if you are a candidate for early menopause, you would need to talk to your female blood relatives to determine if they experienced it. If both your mother and her mother had early onset menopause, there is a high probability that you will as well.

While early menopause can eliminate the possibility of childbirth for some women who were looking forward to raising families, there are other women who find early menopause to be a blessing. Women who have moral objections to artificial forms of birth control, for example, will find early menopause the perfect solution to their desire not to have more children.

There are women who worry that early menopause will bring more difficult symptoms than menopause which occurs at a later age. But the severity of menopausal symptoms is more a result of your individual physiology than it is of the age at which menopause begins. If you are having real difficulty coping with early menopause, be sure to consult your gynecologist to see if there is any form of relief. Medicine has made terrific advances since the times when women simply had to live with the symptoms of menopause, so be sure you take advantage of them!