I believe I do not need to tell you about the excruciating and painful periods females have to go through every single month of their life. Even men cringe when they hear about it. I would not blame them either. Periods are natural for women, and there is a reason behind it. The menstruation cycle is involved in a lot of normal body functions. Menstruation is a normal, healthy sign. If you are missing menstruation for more than a month, you should be worried. Missing periods for over 2-3 months consecutively is called amenorrhea. Do you have missing periods? Here are 9 reasons why it is happening.
Types of Amenorrhea:
You are aware of what amenorrhea is. In order to understand amenorrhea, you need to know its types. There are two types of amenorrhea.
- Primary Amenorrhea
- Secondary Amenorrhea
Primary amenorrhea occurs when a teenage girl (15-16 years) has not experienced any menstruation. In this case, menstruation has not occurred in the first place.
Secondary amenorrhea occurs when menstruation stops in a mature woman. A female’s first menstruation and following cycles were normal. However, it stopped altogether consecutively for a few months.
Why You Should See a Doctor For Amenorrhea:
A lot of desi aunties will say that amenorrhea is nothing to worry about. If you talk about missing periods with other females, you might hear comments like, “How lucky you are.” Or “Wow, I wish my periods stopped.”
Amenorrhea is pretty common in athletes. Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea is the type found in them. A lot of people believe that it is okay and ‘natural’ for an athlete to have amenorrhea. Let me tell you something. Amenorrhea is not normal for an athlete or any other female for that matter.
Amenorrhea is a serious condition. You should definitely visit a doctor about it. Why do you ask? That is because amenorrhea has many risk factors.
The absence of menstruation or missing periods can be a sign that there is something wrong. Amenorrhea could be a symptom of an underlying disease like PCOS.
Related Article: The Cause of PCOS Is Discovered And It’s Not What You’d Expect
Prolonged and untreated amenorrhea can limit fertility. It can even completely halt it too. Your reproductive cycle is greatly disturbed. Menstruation is a normal process in females.
The regular menstruation cycle is responsible for a lot of normal body functions. For instance, menstruation helps maintain the level of estrogen. Estrogen is involved directly in bone formation and maintenance. If there is no menstruation, then there is an imbalance in the levels of estrogen. It will lead to a decrease in bone density.
According to a study, every year without a menstrual cycle, females lose more than 2% of their bone density. If you miss more than three periods in a row that means the levels of estrogen are starting to fluctuate. It inadvertently means that your bone density will be affected. Amenorrhea can develop osteoporosis and bone weakness.
Apart from estrogen’s role in the reproductive cycle and bones, it is also important in the cardiovascular system. This is why there is a risk of heart diseases and cognitive disorders if a person suffers from amenorrhea.
9 Reasons For Missing Periods (Amenorrhea)
1. Stress
Stress for long periods disturbs a woman’s menstrual cycle. You must have experienced serious menstrual cramps due to increased stress too. Similarly, more and prolonged stress can cause amenorrhea. You can sleep at least eight hours every day, walk every day if not exercise, and relieve stress to improve your menstrual cycle.
2. Perimenopause
Menopause is the stage when menstruation stops. The onset of menopause is around the age of 50. There is a possibility that some women can experience the symptoms of menopause several years before it actually happens. This period is known as perimenopause. In this period, estrogen levels have started to fluctuate. Perimenopause can cause missing periods (amenorrhea).
3. Weight
Both weight loss and weight gain can cause missed periods or amenorrhea. A very low or very high body-fat ratio affects the levels of the reproductive hormones. This, in turn, affects the menstruation cycle and can result in missing periods. Eating disorders like anorexia greatly increase the chances of missing periods. This is one of the reasons why you should maintain healthy body weight.
4. Intense Exercise
Missing periods are reported the most in athletes. There is an overall negative energy balance in athletes and people who do intense exercise. The reason for this is that their calorie intake is lesser than calories burned by exercise. Body fat decreases. Many studies have shown that body fat below 10% can increase the chances of missing periods.
You should do moderate exercise with sufficient periods of a break. You should also match the calories burned with calories consumed. In an article at USC Fertility, exercise can stimulate the release of stress hormones. These stress hormones can affect the brain’s production of the hormones required in the menstrual cycle. This is how exercise can cause amenorrhea.
5. Birth Control
Birth controls, hormonal birth controls, in particular, can cause amenorrhea. The hormones in these can maintain the thin lining of the uterus which is not enough to trigger a period.
6. Medication
There are certain other medications that can cause amenorrhea. These include chemotherapy, antidepressants, and other psychiatric medication. Medicines can interfere with a female’s reproductive cycle and the hormones involved in it.
7. Hormones
Imbalances in prolactin and thyroid hormones in the female body can cause amenorrhea. The reason is that all endocrine hormones produced by the body influence different functions. One function may be affected by several different hormones.
8. Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a very obvious cause of missing periods. Even if you are using protection, there are still chances that you might get pregnant.
9. Disease
Missing periods or amenorrhea is a symptom of many different diseases and disorders. Examples are pituitary gland tumors, postpartum necrosis, Turner syndrome, genital tract defects and PCOS.
Related Article: The Cause of PCOS Is Discovered And It’s Not What You’d Expect
As you can see, missing periods are not something you should take lightly. If your periods do not return, that means that your body is calling for help. It needs your attention. If you are worried about missing periods, there are many qualified doctors for this disease you can get in touch with through Marham.