SECONDARY AMENORRHEA - Assignment Example

SECONDARY AMENORRHEA Secondary Amenorrhea There are various conditions that affect females. One of such conditions is amenorrhea. There are two types of amenorrhea. They include primary and secondary amenorrhea. Primary amenorrhea is when menses fails to take place at the expected time. In secondary amenorrhea, the menses have occurred before, but fails for six months or more (Newson, 2013). The prevalence of these diseases has been shown to be around one percent of women (Newson, 2013). However, secondary cases are more common in women over 20 years of age.

There are various causes of secondary cases. Pregnancy has been shown to be the primary factor leading to the development of secondary amenorrhea (Newson, 2013). The paper will discuss the possible causes of secondary amenorrhea in a female patient 20 and 45 years of age. It will also give a brief overview of each diagnosis with signs and symptoms.There are various causes of secondary amenorrhea; however, there are six major causes for the condition. The first major cause is psychogenic stress (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015).

Various forms of stress are said to lead to the development of amenorrhea. Stress is said to lead to increased production of a corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). This alters the hormones responsible for menses. The cause has no particular diagnostic test. However, women with stress as a cause show increased basal plasma cortisol (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). The second significant cause for this condition is loss of weight. Those women that experience loss of weight may fail to menstruate.

Lack of menstruation in this scenario is due to changes in hypothalamia (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). The condition may return to normal when one gains weight. Exercise is also a cause for secondary amenorrhea. Those women that involve themselves in sports have a higher chance of acquiring the condition (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). In this case, physical, hormonal, nutritional, psychological, and environmental factors exert a significant influence in developing the condition (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015).

In amenorrheic athletes, the cause is associated with high cortisol levels. Moreover, discontinuation of pill is associated with the development of the condition. Those women that stop taking contraceptives are most likely to develop amenorrhea (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). Also, some drugs are responsible for development of the condition. The hypothalamic or central nervous system effects of drugs leads to the development of the syndrome (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). Examples of such drugs are desperate and ganglionic blocking agents.

The other main cause of this condition is polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). The individual with this condition have irregular menses and in some cases are infertile (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). There are other diagnoses carried out to establish the cause of the secondary amenorrhea. The first thing is to determine the cause of the condition though pregnancy test. This is because pregnancy is the leading cause of the problem (NHS, 2013). The other thing that is done is a review of medical history.

For example, an analysis may help in establishing emotional issues that may be the cause of stress as well as changes in body weight (NHS, 2013). The other thing is a blood test. It helps in establishing changes in hormones levels in the patient (NHS, 2013). The other test is through scanning. Various scans assist in revealing problems of the reproductive structures as well as the pituitary gland (NHS, 2013). ReferencesGindoff, P & Jewelewicz, R. (2015). Amenorrhea. Retrieved from http://www.glowm.com/section_view/heading/Amenorrhea/item/294.Newson, L. (2013).

Amenorrhoea. Retrieved from http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/amenorrhoea.NHS. (2013). Absent Periods-Diagnosis. Retrieved from http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Periods-absent/Pages/Diagnosis.aspx.