--- title: 5 Reasons Why Some Women Go Through Early Menopause description: There are quite a few things that are known to bring it on—yet many women are unaware of them. Here are the top factors that put you at risk canonical: https://time.com/4140463/menopause-early/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-15T21:37:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:55.022Z article:section: Health og:title: 5 Reasons Why Some Women Go Through Early Menopause og:description: There are quite a few things that are known to bring it on—yet many women are unaware of them. Here are the top factors that put you at risk og:url: https://time.com/4140463/menopause-early/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c304bbec679508a/69887455428a9e66e6cd076d/young-woman-side-view-silhouette.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4968 og:image:height: 2795 og:image:alt: young-woman-side-view-silhouette og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Reasons Why Some Women Go Through Early Menopause twitter:description: There are quite a few things that are known to bring it on—yet many women are unaware of them. Here are the top factors that put you at risk twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c304bbec679508a/69887455428a9e66e6cd076d/young-woman-side-view-silhouette.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Reasons Why Some Women Go Through Early Menopause > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=c1f00915-1eaf-47da-8c62-be32137a5b70&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now [Watch (HLS stream): A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uJFYIrvP.m3u8) (3:13)  _Published 2014-08-20. A practicing sex therapist in New York City, Dr. Shirley Zussman has witnessed everything from the legalization of the contraceptive birth control pill to the AIDs epidemic in the 1980s to the rise of internet porn in the new millenium._ by [Catherine DiBenedetto / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Catherine DiBenedetto / Health.com Contributor Dec 15, 2015 9:37 PM UTC  Silhouette of young woman. Silhouette of young woman. Getty Images by [Catherine DiBenedetto / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Catherine DiBenedetto / Health.com Contributor Dec 15, 2015 9:37 PM UTC Maybe you wake up at night drenched in [sweat,](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20962420,00.html) or you’re struggling to concentrate, or your period has been MIA. These symptoms are enough to freak any woman out, even when she’s at the right age for menopause, the natural transition to infertility that most women experience around 50\. But when these symptoms begin in your 30s, they can be downright scary. For some women, early menopause is brought on by surgery that removes the ovaries. A woman who carries a BRCA gene mutation, for example, may opt to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes taken out in a preventative [salpingo-oopherectomy](http://news.health.com/2015/03/24/angelina-jolie-cancer-preventing-surgery/). (This is the procedure [Angelina Jolie](http://news.health.com/2015/11/02/brad-pitt-describes-the-moment-he-heard-about-angelinas-cancer-scare/) had last March, after blood tests revealed possible indicators of early cancer.) The result? Levels of estrogen and other female hormones drop dramatically, which may lead to hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and other telltale signs of menopause. But one in 100 women will experience these symptoms [by the age of 40](https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/poi/conditioninfo/Pages/affected.aspx) for other reasons, which are often hard to pin down. In fact, for about [90 percent of cases](http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmcp0808697) a woman never learns the reason why. The technical term for this medical condition is primary ovarian insufficiency (POI). “Basically, the ovaries poop out early,” explains Shawn Tassone, M.D., an OB/GYN who specializes in integrative medicine at Austin Area Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Fertility. One key sign for diagnosis: [skipped or irregular periods](https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/poi/conditioninfo/Pages/symptoms.aspx) for [four months](https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/poi/conditioninfo/Pages/diagnosed.aspx). Women with POI (also known as [premature ovarian failure](http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/premature-ovarian-failure/basics/complications/con-20028351)) may face more than mood swings and low libido. If they want to have children, they will likely struggle with infertility, and that can be the first sign that something is not right. (That said, some women do continue to have occasional periods for years after a POI diagnosis, and between[ 5% and 10%](https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/poi/conditioninfo/Pages/family%5Foptions.aspx) do manage to get pregnant.) Although most of the time POI happens without an obvious cause, there are quite a few things that are known to bring it on—yet many women are unaware of them. Below are the top factors that put you at risk. **Your mom went through early menopause** Or your sister, or your grandmother. POI seems to be genetic: “You tend to see it run in families,” Dr. Tassone says. “It can come from either side.” A 2011 review of studies found that in up to [20 percent](https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/poi/conditioninfo/Pages/affected.aspx) of cases, the woman has a [family history](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21188402) of the condition. **Genetic disorders** FMR1 is a gene that causes Fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited intellectual impairment; even if you don’t have the syndrome you can have a mutation on that same gene that causes problems with your ovaries, leading to [Fragile X-associated primary ovarian insufficiency](https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/fxpoi/Pages/default.aspx). According to a report by the [National Institutes of Health](https://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/Documents/nih%5Ffragilex%5Fresearch%5Fplan%5F2009.pdf), this is the case for one in 33 women with POI. Turner Syndrome (in which a woman has only one X chromosome) is another genetic disorder associated with POI. **Autoimmune disorders** The autoimmune disorder thyroiditis (inflammation of the thyroid gland) has been linked to POI. So has Addison’s Disease, in which the adrenal glands don’t produce enough hormones. In the case of either of [these diseases](https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/poi/conditioninfo/Pages/causes.aspx), it’s possible your own immune system may begin to attack the [follicles in your ovaries](http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/premature-ovarian-failure/basics/causes/con-20028351), the small sacs where eggs mature and grow, interfering with their ability to function. **Smoking or other toxin exposure** “Some toxins can bring on premature ovarian failure,” Dr. Tassone says. “Things like cigarettes and pesticides.” Normally we are born with enough primordial follicles (aka the tiny seeds that grow into follicles) to last us until the natural age of menopause, around 50\. But exposure to harmful chemicals is thought to cause a woman to run out of follicles sooner rather than later. **Chemotherapy or radiation** Similar to environmental toxins, these cancer treatments can damage the genetic material in ovarian cells. But the damage depends on various factors, like the type of drug and dose of radiation, your age at the time of treatment, and the area of your body that was radiated. Some women may not develop POI until years after undergoing cancer treatment. And some won’t ever get it. [_This article originally appeared on Health.com_](http://news.health.com/2015/12/01/5-reasons-why-some-women-go-through-early-menopause/?xid=time) _More from Health.com:_ * [Soothing Yoga Moves for the Menopause Blues](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20307077,00.html?xid=time) * [15 Factors That Affect a Woman’s Fertility](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20918587,00.html?xid=time) * [8 Reasons Sex Is Better After 50](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20348327,00.html?xid=time) ## Transcript Sexual pleasure is only one part of what men and women want from each other. They want intimacy, they want closeness, they want understanding, they want comfort, they want fun, and they want somebody who really cares about them beyond going to bed with them, and I think people are always seeking that. In every generation. [ MUSIC ] My name is Shirley Zussman. I just reached a hundred years of age, and I am a practicing sex therapist. I was invited with my husband to a lecture in New Jersey, in 1966. Masters and Johnson were the speakers. No body knew about them. Human sexual response had just been published, what I saw was a couple who will say that people had problems in an area in their lives that was very important and they were recognizing that it was all not just. Glamorous and wonderful to be sexual. One had to almost had to learn how to be a good partner and to endure the pleasure not only for yourself but for each other. And I thought we can do that. Why can't we do that? And we applied for training with Masters and Johnson at that time. The patients that came to us were people who read the paper. The only way they do anything about the work that was being done there. And the problems they came with, was somewhat different than the problems they come with today. Mostly, women came because would put out orgasmic, they didn't know how to achieve an orgasm, but they wanted one. It was so over that ,. Goal they had for themselves and how do I get there. That was one Masters and Johnson's contribution that there was a relatively simple way to start learning about your body. In other words, get, get to know your, who you are sexually and physically and that was. And encouragement for masturbation for learning what makes you feel good. I see a big change in the we view casual sex. In the 60's I think it was not just casual it was frantic. I'm shocked at the lack of connection with people; because of iPhones, even I love my iPhone. There is so much less actual physical connection, there's less touching, there's less talking, there's less holding, there's less looking, [ INAUDIBLE ]. People get pleasure from looking at each other. But the most common problem, I would say, in the sex therapy that I live in, is a lack of desire. You have to look at your priorities. You have to decide what is important to make you feel good about yourself and your life. 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