Premature menopause means periods stop before age 40, which raises the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, memory problems, and mood disorders because of early loss of oestrogen. Image used for representational purposes only
| Photo Credit: ROLI SRIVASTAVA
While menopause typically occurs around the age of 50, data shows that a large number of women in Bihar experience menopause in their thirties. This phenomenon appears to be influenced more by prevailing medical practices than by biological factors, disproportionately affecting socioeconomically disadvantaged women in the State.
Consider what this means in a single life. A woman of 34 in a Bihar district, treated for heavy or painful periods, is offered not medication and follow-up care, but an operation, and, with insurance being guaranteed, she takes it. Her uterus is removed; sometimes her ovaries with it. She leaves, believing a problem has been solved. What she has, in fact, acquired decades early, is the body of a post-menopausal woman: the raised risk of heart disease and bone loss that oestrogen had been holding back. She was not told this was the trade-off.
Published – July 28, 2026 04:36 pm IST