For many women, life after 50 is an exciting time. Their careers are at their peak and they're enjoying time with family. They feel great and are cruising through menopause with minimal problems. Some, however, face health concerns resulting from disease, unhealthy habits, genetics, or simple wear and tear.

Million of women are going through "the change" and dealing with menopause symptoms that can last a long time. The four-to-six years leading up to your final period are called Perimenopause. According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG), "Menopause happens around age 51, but every woman's body has its own timeline.

Women who have their last period before age 42 are two times more likely to have a stroke down the road than those who experience menopause later in life, according to a University of Michigan School of Public Health study. Most women go through menopause, which is marked by completing one year without periods, at an average age of 51.

Each year, more than 600,000 hysterectomies are performed in the United States, making it one of the most common women's surgeries—second only caesarean section. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the procedure is so common that one in every three American women has had a hysterectomy by age 60.

What's happening to you lately? One minute you're on top of the world, the next you're ready to rage at anyone who crosses you. You're up, you're down, you're happy, you're irritable—didn't you leave this all behind in middle school?What's happening is, in a word, hormones.

You'd be hard put to find a woman who wanted a longer menopause, with its constellation of annoying symptoms. But a lengthier change of life may have one health advantage: women who transition more quickly through menopause appear to face an increased risk of "preclinical atherosclerosis.