Women at midlife. The transition to menopause.

The advantage over men that women experience in life expectancy does not extend to morbidity. Although women live on average approximately 7 years longer than men, their later years are often filled with medical problems. Much is currently known that could influence and effect improved health for women. Menopause is not a dramatic event that signals an abrupt change in the health and well-being of women. Rather, it is a transitional time of perhaps a 25-year span when estrogen production gradually declines and results in a variety of bodily changes. Concurrent with the hormone changes are other effects of the normal cycle of aging. Comprehensive multidisciplinary health care clinics for adult women have the potential to provide health services that women seek.