Menstrual health concerns -
About About What are the symptoms of menstruation? What are menstrual problems or irregularities? How many women are affected by menstrual irregularities?
What causes menstrual irregularities? How do health care providers diagnose menstrual irregularities? What are the common treatments for menstrual irregularities?
NICHD Research Information NICHD Research Information Research Goals Activities and Advances Find a Study Find a Study More Information More Information Other FAQs Resources.
En Español. General Information. About Menstruation and Menstrual Problems Menstruation is one part of the menstrual cycle, in which female hormones prepare the uterus to support a pregnancy.
What are the symptoms of menstruation? NICHD Research Information NICHD research aims to learn more about menstruation and menstrual irregularities. Find a Study. Find a Study NICHD conducts and supports a variety of clinical research projects related to menstruation and menstrual irregularities.
For example, many women with heavy menstrual bleeding don't ovulate regularly. Ovulation, when one of the ovaries releases an egg, occurs around day 14 in a normal menstrual cycle.
Changes in hormone levels help trigger ovulation. Amenorrhea You may also have experienced the opposite problem of heavy menstrual bleeding—no menstrual periods at all. This condition, called amenorrhea, or the absence of menstruation, is normal before puberty, after menopause and during pregnancy.
If you don't have a monthly period and don't fit into one of these categories, then you need to discuss your condition with your health care professional.
Additionally, problems affecting the pituitary gland such as elevated levels of the hormone prolactin or thyroid including hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism may cause secondary amenorrhea. This condition can also occur if you've had an ovarian cyst or had your ovaries surgically removed.
Severe menstrual cramps dysmenorrhea Most women have experienced menstrual cramps before or during their period at some point in their lives. For some, it's part of the regular monthly routine.
But if your cramps are especially painful and persistent, this is called dysmenorrhea, and you should consult your health care professional.
Pain from menstrual cramps is caused by uterine contractions, triggered by prostaglandins, hormone-like substances that are produced by the uterine lining cells and circulate in your bloodstream. If you have severe menstrual pain, you might also find you have some diarrhea or an occasional feeling of faintness where you suddenly become pale and sweaty.
That's because prostaglandins speed up contractions in your intestines, resulting in diarrhea, and lower your blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels, leading to lightheadedness. Premenstrual syndrome PMS PMS is a term commonly used to describe a wide variety of physical and psychological symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle.
About 30 to 40 percent of women experience symptoms severe enough to disrupt their lifestyles. PMS symptoms are more severe and disruptive than the typical mild premenstrual symptoms that as many as 75 percent of all women experience. There are more than documented symptoms of PMS, the most common of which is depression.
Symptoms typically develop about five to seven days before your period and disappear once your period begins or soon after. PMS appears to be caused by rising and falling levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which may influence brain chemicals, including serotonin, a substance that has a strong affect on mood.
It's not clear why some women develop PMS or PMDD and others do not, but researchers suspect that some women are more sensitive than others to changes in hormone levels. Symptoms of PMS may increase in severity following each pregnancy and may worsen with age until they stop at menopause.
If you experience PMS, you may have an increased sensitivity to alcohol at specific times during your cycle. Women with this condition often have a sister or mother who also suffers from PMS, suggesting a genetic component exists for the disorder. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder PMDD Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is far more severe than the typical PMS.
Women who experience PMDD about 3 to 8 percent of all women say it significantly interferes with their lives. Experts equate the difference between PMS and PMDD to the difference between a mild tension headache and a migraine.
The most common symptoms of PMDD are heightened irritability, anxiety and mood swings. Women who have a history of major depression, postpartum depression or mood disorders are at higher risk for PMDD than other women.
Although some symptoms of PMDD and major depression overlap, they are different:. To help diagnose menstrual disorders, you should schedule an appointment with your health care professional. To prepare, keep a record of the frequency and duration of your periods.
Also jot down any additional symptoms, such as cramping, and be prepared to discuss health history. Here is how your health care professional will help you specifically diagnose abnormal uterine bleeding, dysmenorrhea, PMS and PMDD:. To diagnose heavy menstrual bleeding—also called menorrhagia—your health care professional will conduct a full medical examination to see if your condition is related to an underlying medical problem.
This could be structural, such as fibroids, or hormonal. The examination involves a series of tests. These may include:.
You can also expect blood tests to check your blood count for anemia and a urine test to see if you're pregnant, as well as other laboratory tests. The more information you can give your health care professional, the better. Take notes on the dates and length of your periods.
You can do this by marking your calendar or appointment book. You might also be asked to keep a daily track record of your temperature to determine when you are ovulating. Ovulation kits, that use a morning urine sample, are available without a prescription and are easy to use.
During your initial evaluation with your health care professional, you should also discuss the following:.
There are no specific diagnostic tests for PMS and PMDD. You'll probably be asked to keep track of your symptoms and write them down. A premenstrual symptom checklist is one of the most common methods currently used to evaluate symptoms. With this tool, you can track the type and severity of symptoms to help identify a pattern.
Treatments for menstrual disorders range from over-the-counter medications to surgery, with a variety of options in between. Your treatment options will depend on your diagnosis, its severity, which treatment you prefer, your health history and your health care professional's recommendation.
Medication and surgery are used to treat AUB. Typically, less invasive therapies should be considered first. Treatment choices depend on your age, your desire to preserve fertility and the cause of the abnormal bleeding dysfunctional or structural.
Some treatments may reduce your menstrual bleeding to a light to normal flow. Medication therapy is often successful and a good first option. The benefits last only as long as the medication is taken, so if you choose this route, you should know that medical treatment is a long-term commitment.
Low-dose birth control pills, progestins and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs may help control heavy or irregular bleeding caused by hormonal imbalances.
If your periods have stopped, oral contraceptives and contraceptive patches are highly effective in restoring regular bleeding, although they will not correct the reason you stopped bleeding.
Both can also help reduce menstrual flow, improve and control menstrual patterns and relieve pelvic pain during menstruation. They are considered for PMS treatment if your symptoms are mostly physical, but may not be effective if your primary symptom is mood changes.
However, a newer brand of oral contraceptive containing a form of progesterone called drospirenone and marketed under the names YAZ, Yasmin, Ocella, Gianvi and Zarah, may reduce some mood-related symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, tearfulness and tension.
And Yaz is FDA-approved for the treatment of PMDD. Natazia, which contains the synthetic estrogen estradiol valerate, is the first birth control pill FDA-approved for treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding that is not caused by a condition of the uterus.
The combination estrogen-progesterone pill may help women who choose oral contraceptives for contraception and do not have risk factors that may make using hormonal birth control inadvisable. Birth control pills may not be an appropriate treatment choice if you smoke, have a history of pulmonary embolism blood clots in your lungs or have bothersome side effects from this medication.
The risk of these side effects is even higher if you use the birth control patch, because it contains higher levels of estrogen.
Progestins, either oral or injectable, are also used to manage heavy bleeding, particularly that resulting from a lack of ovulation.
Although they don't work as well as estrogen, they are effective for long-term management. Side effects include irregular menstrual bleeding, weight gain and, sometimes, mood changes. The levonorgestrel intrauterine system Mirena is FDA-approved to treat heavy menstrual bleeding in women who use intrauterine contraception as their method of birth control prevention.
The Mirena system may be kept in place for up to five years. Over this time, it slowly releases a low dose of the progestin hormone levonorgestrel into the uterus.
Mirena is also referred to as an intrauterine device, or IUD. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs are available over the counter and with a prescription and can help reduce menstrual bleeding and cramping.
These medications include ibuprofen Advil, Motrin and naproxen Aleve. Mefenamic acid Ponstel is a prescription-only NSAID. Common side effects include stomach upset, headaches, dizziness and drowsiness.
Tranexamic acid Lysteda , although new to the United States, has been used successfully to decrease heavy menstrual bleeding in other countries for many years. These tablets are only taken on the days you expect to have heavy bleeding.
Except for hysterectomy, surgical options for heavy bleeding preserve the uterus, destroying just the uterine lining. However, most of these procedures result in the loss of fertility, ending your ability to have children.
There are other important considerations for each of these treatment options. Risks common to all surgical options include infection, hemorrhage and other complications. If you are experiencing severe menstrual cramps called dysmenorrhea regularly, your health care professional might suggest you try over-the-counter and prescription medications and exercise, among other strategies.
Medications such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories NSAIDs , like ibuprofen and naproxen, can be purchased without a prescription.
Treatment works best if started hours before the onset of cramping. If you wait until you have pain, it doesn't work as well.
This will also help reduce heavy bleeding. Oral contraceptive pills are also effective for menstrual cramps. If active pills are taken continuously for 90 to days in a row, periods will only occur three to four times a year.
To help manage PMS symptoms, try exercise and dietary changes suggested here and ask your health care professional for other options. If you suffer from PMDD, however, don't try to treat on your own; make sure you talk to your health care professional. Exercise is another good way to relieve menstrual cycle symptoms.
You will get the greatest benefits from exercise if you do it for at least 30 minutes, five days a week. But even taking a to minute walk three times a week can:. There's evidence that some nutritional supplements such as calcium, magnesium and vitamin B-6 may help ease symptoms of PMS.
Discuss these and other strategies with your health care professional before taking any dietary supplement. Women who experience chronic ovulation problems—failure to ovulate—can regulate their bleeding by continuing to take oral contraceptives. For other menstrual cycle-related problems, such as cramping or premenstrual syndrome, you can take steps to prevent or minimize your discomfort and pain as described in the Treatment section of this entry.
Additionally, changing your diet, exercising and adopting a regular sleep pattern can all help with PMS and PMDD symptoms. Specifically, try:. For PMDD, antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications, particularly a type called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors SSRIs , can help prevent disruptive symptoms.
It may not be necessary to take an SSRI every day; taking the medication only during your luteal phase starting 14 days before your next period may be sufficient. Review the following Questions to Ask about menstrual disorders so you're prepared to discuss this important health issue with your health care professional.
Abnormal uterine bleeding refers to menstrual periods that are abnormally heavy, prolonged or both. The term may also refer to bleeding between periods or absent periods. This condition, called secondary amenorrhea, can be caused by problems that affect estrogen levels, including stress, weight loss, exercise or illness.
Also you may experience secondary amenorrhea because of problems affecting the pituitary, thyroid or adrenal gland.
This condition can also occur if you've had ovarian cysts or have had your ovaries surgically removed. You should consult with a health care professional to determine what is causing you to skip periods. Research has shown that approaches that can effectively combine information and education with appropriate infrastructure and menstrual products, in a conducive policy environment, are more successful in avoiding the negative effects of poor MHH — in short, a holistic approach requiring collaborative and multi-dimensional responses.
Priority Areas. In low-income countries, half of the schools lack adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services crucial to enable girls and female teachers to manage menstruation UNICEF Schools that have female-friendly facilities and incorporate information on menstruation into the curriculum for both girls and boys can reduce stigma and contribute to better education and health outcomes.
When girls and women have access to safe and affordable sanitary materials to manage their menstruation, they decrease their risk of infections. This can have cascading effects on overall sexual and reproductive health, including reducing teen pregnancy, maternal outcomes, and fertility.
Poor menstrual hygiene, however, can pose serious health risks, like reproductive and urinary tract infections which can result in future infertility and birth complications. Neglecting to wash hands after changing menstrual products can spread infections, such as hepatitis B and thrush.
Awareness of MHH contributes to building an enabling environment of nondiscrimination and gender equality in which female voices are heard, girls have choices about their future, and women have options to become leaders and managers.
In addition, feminine hygiene products are a multibillion-dollar industry, which, if properly tapped into, can generate income for many and significantly boost economic growth. Disposable sanitary products contribute to large amounts of global waste. Ensuring women and girls have access to sustainable and quality products, and improving the management of the disposal of menstrual products, can make a big difference to the environment.
In India alone, roughly million women and girls use an average of eight disposable and non-compostable pads per month, generating 1. Country Examples. Enhancing opportunities for women to access adequate menstrual health and hygiene is central to the World Bank Group in achieving its development outcomes.
In addition, the project is facilitating behavior change sessions and training on the importance of menstrual hygiene and safely managed WASH facilities.
Access to finance will be provided to women entrepreneurs to help them market and sell soaps, disinfectants and menstrual hygiene products at household doorsteps. This will improve menstrual hygiene practices, especially among those who are too shy and reluctant to purchase them at public markets.
This includes gender-separated facilities with door locks, lighting, disposal bins, and handwashing stations with soap and water. Behavior changes and hygiene promotion campaigns incorporating MHH will be undertaken, targeting students, teachers, parents and the larger community.
Under the project, sanitation facilities were constructed at more than schools across the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area.
Good Menstrual health concerns hygiene management MHM plays a fundamental role in enabling women, girls, and other menstruators to Body cleanse system their full Healyh. The negative impacts oxidative stress definition a lack of concernss menstrual health and hygiene cut conceens sectors, so the World Bank takes a multi-sectoral, holistic approach in working to improve menstrual hygiene in its operations across the world. Menstrual Health and Hygiene MHH is essential to the well-being and empowerment of women and adolescent girls. On any given day, more than million women worldwide are menstruating. In total, an estimated million lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management MHM. Federal government websites Body cleanse system Menshrual in. Menstrual health concerns or. The site is healhh. Your Fasting Benefits / cycle can tell you a lot about your health. Regular periods between puberty and menopause mean your body is working normally. Period problems like irregular or painful periods may be a sign of a serious health problem.
ist mit der vorhergehenden Phrase absolut einverstanden
Es gibt die Webseite in der Sie interessierenden Frage.