Menopause is the permanent cessation of menstruation which occurs as a result of loss of ovarian activity. It is a retrospective diagnosis made when 12 months have elapsed after the final menstrual period. The word menopause is derived from the Greek words ‘menos’ meaning month and ‘pausis’ meaning cessation. Menopause is possibly an evolutionary adaptation to prevent child bearing in the older age group. Life expectancy continues to increase and has reached 82 years for women in developed countries. Most women thus live more than one third of their lifetime after menopause. The age at menopause is predominantly genetically determined and over the years has seen only a minimal increase. Mothers and daughters experience menopause almost at the same age. Natural menopause usually occurs between the ages 45 and 55. Average age is estimated to be 50.7. Menopause occurs early in undernourished women, those on vegetarian diets and also among smokers. It seems to be affected by chemotherapy, radiation, surgery on the ovary, hysterectomy etc whereas race, socioeconomic status, age of menarche etc have no role in determining the age at menopause. Premature menopause is defined as menopause occurring at an age less than two standard deviations below the mean estimate for the reference population. In developing countries, due to the absence of reliable data, menstruation ceasing before the arbitrary cut-off value of 40 years is considered premature menopause. The marked decrease in hormone production after menopause affects several systems in the body.