Menopause can be a difficult transition for many women, made all the more difficult by what they have seen of their own mother’s experiences with menopause.

mother's menopauseMany women, who have seen their mothers, suffer uncomfortable hot flashes, a failing memory, deteriorating skin and hair – all as a result of the hormonal changes that menopause can bring – and then fear going through the same themselves.

Other women breeze through menopause – much as their mothers did before them. However, expectation that women have, could be something of a self fulfilling prophecy, says women’s health expert Christiane Northrup, M.D.

Not all women will have a menopause similar to their mothers – all the symptoms of menopause are not inherited and there are quite a few things that can be done to ease this transitional period of a woman’s life.

While the age at which a woman will hit menopause is a factor influenced by heredity, there are many other factors that are controlled by lifestyle and environment. As for the symptoms of menopause, these are not reliant on heredity – just because the symptoms were severe in the case of one’s mother, this does not mean that one will have as difficult a time.