Menopause is hardly considered nowadays as a harmless problem which does not last and will eventually leave no trace other than the end of fertility. It is linked to age and ageing, a situation our society finds difficult to face. A landmark in woman’s landscape, it means the end of that specific rhythm which since puberty has marked her, the end of that punctuation which told each woman she was still young and ‘full-blooded’. We know that even if motherhood is not the only aim for our contemporaries, losing such a privilege cannot be ignored. But the very important fact is that today’s woman still has at least one third of her life to enjoy after her menopause, 30 years or even more, almost the whole lifespan of her ancestors not so long ago. To enjoy? Yes, and this is why she feels entitled to a real quality of life, even given the reality of getting older, and she would certainly like to be spared some of the adverse consequences of menopause, and, why not, of ageing. Though she knows it is a biological and physiological process, she also knows it may induce some pathological consequences, and the minor ones can be as unpleasant to live with as the major ones. Urinary changes are amongst those adverse effects, minor for doctors, not so minor for our patients, so much so that it can spoil today’s life more than tomorrow’s osteoporosis, or so they feel! The mechanism of continence is a matter of physics of the fluids, and their pressures in the urinary system, as well as of conscious neurological control. An adequately functioning pelvic floor and a positive urethral closure pressure, exceeding the bladder pressure, ensure continence. Cytological and urodynamic changes occur when fluctuations in steroid levels sign feminine events, such as menstrual cycle and pregnancy. The fall of circulating estrogens, indicating and following menopause, is a cause of urogenital atrophy conflicting with sexual life but also with normal urinary functioning, from urgency to incontinence, as well as dysuria. Although the true prevalence is not easy to define, severe urgency and stress incontinence are related by most women to their menopausal time. Needless to say that the ageing process certainly also has a role in those situations. The symptoms being often mixed, and the correlation between symptomatic and urodynamic findings often poor, mathematic evidence is yet to be found. But one obvious fact remains: even if international congresses do not make it the topic of one of their keynote lectures, women’s lives are affected by the urinary changes at that period, and they do deserve their doctor’s understanding as much as their eventual help. * Fax: +33-142021698.