Menstrual delay
Among the various disorders related to menstruation, oligomenorrhea indicates an alteration in the duration of the ovarian cycle, which manifests itself with a delay of more than four days: in other words, we speak of oligomenorrhea when the interval between a menstruation and the another exceeds 32-35 days.
Cycle duration
In women of fertile age, except for pregnant women and the puerperal period (after childbirth), the cycle normally lasts 23-32 days, and menstruation should last up to a maximum of eight days: if these rhythms are not respected, there may be some problems.
When the period of time between two menstrual cycles exceeds 3 months, the oligomenorrhea meaning is refined to "amenorrhea", which indicates a long interruption of the cycle.
Biological clock
The oligomenorrhea, in general, does not create and does not reflect real pathologies: in fact, if the woman is healthy from the gynecological point of view, therefore not affected by fibroids, malignant tumors, polyps, abdominal pains and consistent menstrual disorders, the Oligomenorrhea does not lead to significant consequences, except for the discomforts that may arise from the "expectation" of the menstrual cycle.
To better understand the concept, let's take a metaphor with the biological clock. Every woman has her own biological clock, important for monitoring menstrual adjustment times: sometimes, for various reasons, it may happen that the gears of the biological clock jam, and the body responds inappropriately by presenting oligomenorrhea, menorrhagia, metrorrhagia, polymenorrhea etc.
The biological clock can ideally be divided into two periods: the pre-ovulation phase and the post-ovulation phase. Generally, the post-ovulatory stage, which coincides with the period following ovulation, is constant; what changes, and which could cause oligomenorrhea, and therefore delayed menstrual flow, is the pre-ovulatory stage, which is variable. Just this last phase, going on too long, could generate that expectation that results in oligomenorrhea.
Incidence
Oligomenorrhea represents the most frequent menstrual irregularity among women; in particular, during the first year of the first menstruation (menarche), it is estimated that 25% of neodonne often complain of oligomenorrhea, since the organism has yet to "settle" and the biological clock - to reconsider the same metaphor - still has to be effectively planned.
Causes
The causes that can cause oligomenorrhea are many and can change from woman to woman: in fact, as we have said, among young women it is a fairly widespread phenomenon - not so much due to the presence of problems at the level of the genital apparatus - but due to the fact that the body has yet to adapt to the new body. In adult women, the phenomenon of oligomenorrhea is, however, frequent: statistics show that 35% of women suffer from periodic delays; probably, in these cases, the oligomenorrhea is related to hyperandrogenism, ie a high rate of male hormones in women. Even the multi-follicular ovary is a possible factor that affects oligomenorrhea: multiple follicles are scattered within the ovary and can generate unpleasant delays. Furthermore, psycho-physical stress, fatigue, anxieties, worries and excessive work can influence the regularity of the menstrual cycle; however, these factors described above do not have any meaning in pathological terms.
Early menopause
A link has been registered between the frequent oligomenorrhea in adulthood and early menopause: there are still no studies that actually show a direct connection, but it seems that the frequent delay of menstruation can somehow anticipate the period of menopause.
The occasional delay of the menstrual cycle must not cause concern; vice versa, when the oligomenorrhea occurs frequently, it is advisable to consult the doctor for a gynecological check; eventually, the specialist will be able to advise the patient on a hormonal progestin treatment for the rapprochement of menstruation and the regularization of the cycle.
Summary
To fix the concepts ...
| Menstrual disorder | oligomenorrhoea |
Description | Alteration of the ovarian cycle that occurs with a delay of more than four days: if the interval between a menstruation and the other exceeds 32-35 days we speak of oligomenorrhea |
Incidence | Women of childbearing age, excluding pregnant women and women in the postpartum period. Oligomenorrhea affects 35% of newborn women during the first year after menarche |
Amenorrhea | When the oligomenorrhea exceeds 3 months, it is called amenorrhea |
At what stage the oligomenorrhea occurs | The post-ovulation phase is constant The pre-ovulation stage may be longer than normal: oligomenorrhea may occur at this stage |
Influential factors |
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Consequences | Abdominal pain, stress Possible (but certainly not) advance of menopause |
Therapy | A progestogen hormone therapy regularizes the menstrual cycle and prevents oligomenorrhea |
