Victoria Biddick Nutrition Introduction + Menopause Quiz

As part of our commitment to supporting women's health at every age and stage, we are thrilled to welcome Victoria Biddick to the Everee Women™ team. Each week, Victoria will provide our community with the latest evidence-based information on midlife changes, along with practical ways to support perimenopause through lifestyle modifications, including diet and exercise. No matter where you are in your life journey, we believe you'll find her insights incredibly helpful!

Victoria is a qualified nutritionist with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Nutrition and the founder of Victoria Biddick Nutrition. She is on a mission to help women thrive during midlife with effective nutrition and lifestyle advice. As someone experiencing midlife changes herself, Victoria understands firsthand the unique challenges that perimenopause can bring. Like many women, she initially felt unprepared for the changes her body was undergoing and unsure of how to manage her symptoms. Victoria has since turned her own journey into an opportunity to research these changes and adopt practical steps to support her health and well-being.

Women’s Wisdom by Everee Women™ | Menopause Quiz

To kick things off, we're launching our first piece of content: A Menopause Quiz. Each question will be followed with the correct answer and a bit of information to support the answer. No matter what your score, we’ve got you! We believe in the saying “knowledge is power” and by being informed about menopause we can take positive steps to support our health and wellbeing.

TAKE OUR MENOPAUSE QUIZ: HOW MUCH DO YOU ALREADY KNOW?

Write your answers as you go, then review them at the end.

1. Menopause is defined as:

a. A pause in menstrual cycle
b. Time leading up to last menstrual cycle
c. Last or final menstrual period, confirmed after 12 months

2. The average age for a woman to experience menopause in New Zealand is:

a. 51 ½ years
b. 55 years
c. 60 years

3. Which of the following factors can influence the onset of menopause (including early menopause 40-45 years):

4. Perimenopause occurs:

a. 1 year before menopause
b. 2-10 years before menopause
c. 10-15 years before menopause

5. Humans are the only mammals to experience menopause:

a. True
b. False

6. Humans experience menopause because:

a. More adults available to care for young, ensures survival of the species
b. We live longer than we used to
c. We are not sure!

7. In perimenopause the sex hormones Oestrogen, Progesterone and Testosterone decrease:

a. Gradually with a steady decline
b. Fluctuating from high too low like a rollercoaster

8. Changes in menstrual cycle such as, irregular periods or changes in flow can be an early indicator of perimenopause:

a. True
b. False

9. Which of these symptoms is not associated with menopause:

Answers

1. (c) Menopause is defined as last or final menstrual period, confirmed after 12 months when a woman is said to be post-menopausal. Unlike the name suggests menopause is not a pause in the menstrual cycle, it’s the end. The word pause comes from the Latin word pausis which means cessation (1).
   
   
2. (a) The average age for a woman to undergo menopause in New Zealand is 51½ years. Most women become menopausal naturally between the ages of 45 and 55 years (2).
   
   
3. (e) The following factors of smoking, family history, full hysterectomy and chemotherapy can influence the onset of menopause (including early menopause at 40-45 years). Evidence shows women that smoke are 1.8 - 2 years younger to start menopause when compared to non-smoking women (3). The age your mother commenced menopause is a strong predictor of when a women will start menopause. If your mother, grandmother, aunt or sister have undergone early menopause (under the age of 46) then you are six times more likely to start early (4). A full hysterectomy involving removal of the ovaries will cause sudden onset of menopause (5). Chemotherapy and radiotherapy may also cause menopause (5).
   
   
4. (b) Perimenopause occurs 2-10 years before the last period (6).
   
   
5. (b) Humans are NOT the only mammals to experience menopause. Scientists have discovered four species of toothed whales including Orca and Pilot Whales that undergo a similar phenomenon. Orca whales stop reproducing around 40 years but go on to live to 90 years (7).
   
   
6. (c) We are not sure why humans experience menopause. There are two main theories, the adaptive or grandmother hypothesis and the evolutionary theory. The grandmother hypothesis as seen in whale studies, indicates it’s an adaptive process to ensure survival of the species by freeing up the older females to care for the young. The evolutionary theory is based around the premise that humans are living longer than their ancestors (8).
   
   
7. (b) In perimenopause the sex hormones Oestrogen, Progesterone and Testosterone decrease in a fluctuating pattern going from high to low again like a rollercoaster. The hormonal fluctuations are responsible for the range of symptoms experienced during perimenopause (9).
   
   
8. (a) True. Changes in menstrual cycle such as irregular periods or changes in flow, can be an early indicator of perimenopause. In early perimenopause, irregular or changeable cycles with at least a 7-day variation between each period. In later stage, perimenopause cycle length is longer than 60 days, with two or more missed periods (10).
   
   
9. (c) Hair growth is not a symptom associated with menopause; however, hair loss and thinning are due to the decline of progesterone and oestrogen. These two hormones play a role in promoting hair growth, density and fullness. This leads to thinning hair that doesn't grow as quickly as before (11).
   
   
10. (d) Lifestyle changes such as improving diet, regular exercise and stopping smoking can improve overall health and wellbeing and make menopause symptoms easier to tolerate (12).

How did you go?

• 8-10 Top Score. Well done!
• 4-7  A great knowledge base to support your perimenopause journey.
• 1-3  A blank canvas to fill with knowledge.

References

1. Online Etymology Dictionary (n.d).Menopause. https://www.etymonline.com/word/menopause

2. Women’s Health (n.d).Menopause. Women’s Health Organisation NZ https://www.womens-health.org.nz/health-topics/menopause/

3. Tawfik, H., Kline, J., Jacobson, J., Tehranifar, P., Protacio, A., Flom, J. D., Cirillo, P., Cohn, B. A., & Terry, M. B. (2015). Life course exposure to smoke and early menopause and menopausal transition. Menopause (New York, N.Y.), 22(10), 1076–1083. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000000444

4. Louwers, Y. V., & Visser, J. A. (2021). Shared Genetics Between Age at Menopause, Early Menopause, POI and Other Traits. Frontiers, 12(Sec. Genetics of Common and Rare Diseases). https://doi.org/doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.676546

5. Australasian Menopause Society (2020). Early Menopause due to Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy. https://www.menopause.org.au/hp/information-sheets/early-menopause-due-to-chemotherapy-radiotherapy

6. Australasian Menopause Society(2020). What is menopause? Australasian Menopause Society. https://menopause.org.au/hp/information-sheets/surgical-menopause

7. Castro, J.(2017).Do Animals Have Menopause ? Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/60587-do-animals-have-menopause.html

8. Austad S. N. (1994). Menopause: an evolutionary perspective. Experimental gerontology, 29(3-4), 255–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/0531-5565(94)90005-1

9. Australasian Menopause Society(2023) Perimenopause or Menopausal Transition. https://menopause.org.au/hp/information-sheets/perimenopause

10. Harlow, S. D., Gass, M., Hall, J. E., Lobo, R., Maki, P., Rebar, R. W., Sherman, S., Sluss, P. M., de Villiers, T. J., & STRAW + 10 Collaborative Group (2012). Executive summary of the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop + 10: addressing the unfinished agenda of staging reproductive aging. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 97(4), 1159–1168. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2011-3362

11. John Hopkins Medicine(2024).Introduction to Menopause. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/introduction-to-menopause

12. Australasian Menopause Society(2024).Menopause what are the symptoms.https://www.menopause.org.au/images/factsheets/Menopause_What_are_the_symptoms.pdf