Did you know that besides pregnancy, there are various other reasons for missing your
period based on your lifestyle choices and genetic factors, you can even stop having
your period for a prolonged time.
How can this be?
What I'm referring to is amenorrhea.
Amenorrhea is characterized by the absence of menstruation, also known as a period there is
primary and secondary amenorrhea primary.
Primary amenorrhea occurs when there is a failure to menstruate by a certain age,
usually the age of puberty, where secondary amenorrhea is the absence of menstruation for
more than six months and someone who was having a normal menstrual cycle.
The focus of this video will be on secondary amenorrhea.
Before we begin discussing secondary amenorrhea, let's clarify what a normal
menstrual cycle constitutes.
There are three phases of the menstrual cycle.
The menstrual phase, follicular phase and luteal phase.
The menstrual phase is when bleeding occurs.
This is often referred to as a period.
This period of bleeding should last.
On average, two to seven days, followed by the menstrual phase is the follicular phase,
which is a nine-day phase.
During this phase, one or two mature eggs are released into the fallopian tubes.
This is also known as ovulation.
Next is the luteal phase, which lasts 14 days.
During this phase, the uterus lining called the endometrium thickens to support the
fertilization of the eggs.
The lining is thickened to help support the eggs through pregnancy.
If a pregnancy does not occur, we cycle back into the menstrual phase and shed the lining
along with the egg through our period blood.
In total, the cycle is supposed to occur every twenty-eight days.
However, it is normal for it to range anywhere from twenty-one to thirty-five days.
This menstrual cycle is controlled by four main parts of the body.
The hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, ovaries and the uterus.
The hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland, which is the master gland responsible
for producing hormones that signal the ovaries to ovulate during the follicular
phase. In the luteal phase, these ovaries produce the hormones, estrogen and
progesterone with signal the uterus to respond by preparing the endometrium lining,
which is shed in the menstrual phase.
The cycle occurs like clockwork.
It circulates again and again until menopause is reached.
However, certain lifestyle factors and choices can disturb the cycle early and cause
secondary amenorrhea in which there's the absence of menstruation for more than six
months.
So we will now focus on the causes of secondary amenorrhea.
The natural causes of amenorrhea include pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause.
In all these three conditions, there's a possibility of no menstruation for at least
three consecutive times, which falls within the characteristics of secondary amenorrhea.
If these factors are ruled out by a physician, a family history that goes back to
three previous generations can help with proper diagnosis.
Genetic and chromosomal abnormalities are rare but important for secondary amenorrhea
detection and can be attributed to a single gene disorder, chromosomal abnormality or
multifactorial defects.
There are various cross-sectional studies that have looked at chromosomal abnormalities
in female patients.
For instance, a study back in 2012 recruited
ninety-four female patients who had been recognised with secondary amenorrhea.
They used karyotyping, which is a conventional genetic technique to monitor the
chromosomal abnormalities, and they found that five out of the ninety-four patients
indeed had chromosomal abnormalities.
There is also additional lifestyle factors associated with secondary amenorrhea.
Let's now look into the specific lifestyle factors that can cause amenorrhea.
Having an excessively low body weight can be dangerous.
It signals to your body that you cannot sustain a pregnancy, so in turn, your body
shuts down your malnourished reproductive system.
This can interrupt many essential hormonal functions that are crucial to maintain a
menstrual cycle. Individuals with eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia, often
stop having periods because of abnormal hormonal changes.
Obesity is often accompanied by high levels of specific hormones in the body.
This can also affect the menstrual cycle as specific hormones are more elevated than they
should be. Excess fat cells can also get in the way of the process of ovulation, all
causing amenorrhea.
Women who participate in activities that require rigorous training, such as ballet or
weightlifting, may find that their menstrual cycles are interrupted.
This can be because of their low body fat stress and high energy expenditure that can
also all contribute to getting amenorrhea.
Stress can also temporarily alter the functioning of your hypothalamus.
To recall, the hypothalamus is the area of the brain that controls the hormones and
regulates your menstrual cycle, so altering the function of such an important gland can
contribute to getting amenorrhea.
Well, amenorrhea is not life-threatening.
It may lead to complications and increased long term risks.
One complication is infertility and problems with pregnancy.
If a woman doesn't ovulate and doesn't have her menstrual period pregnancy cannot occur.
Additionally, if the cause of amenorrhea is a hormone imbalance, miscarriage can also
result, psychological stress can also be a very serious complication that affects women
with dementia. For a young woman, it can be both scary and sad to not be getting your
period at the same time as your friends and peers.
The psychological stress associated with wanting to fit in can be very damaging.
Other complications that may arise are osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.
These complications may come from a hormone imbalance, specifically a lack of estrogen
being produced. Finally, if amenorrhea is caused by an anatomical problem, pelvic pain
may arise. Due to these associated complications, amenorrhea should always be
evaluated by a health care professional.
It is clear that taking care of your health is crucial for maintaining a regular and
healthy menstrual cycle and preventing long term complications.
So remember, maintain a healthy weight and eat a healthy diet, be aware of your
menstrual cycle so you know if you miss a period, regularly see a gynaecologist and
have a pelvic exam and get regular and adequate sleep.
Thanks for watching.