Infertility
About 1 in 6 couples or approximately 15% have infertility and have trouble getting pregnant or carrying a baby to term
Infertility is typically described as not being able to get pregnant after at least one year of trying to conceive. Many times people have no idea they are infertile until they have trouble conceiving. This is because there are very few symptoms of infertility except for lack of pregnancy. Sometimes women will notice irregular menstrual periods or men will have hormone problems that cause symptoms. About 20% of infertility is from unknown cause. Common causes of infertility of females include:
- Luteal phase defect or insufficient progesterone post-ovulatio n
- Estrogen and progesterone deficiency in the normal cycle (likelihood of hormonal deficiency and risks of miscarriages increases with advancing age, >35 y/o, and can be compounded by previous history of miscarriages)
- Other factors contributing to infertility: Abortion as a means of contraception (4 successive abortions can lead to infertility); Emergency contraceptives (Emergency contraception is the use of a drug or device to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse.) Untreated pelvic inflammatory disease and STDs contribute to infertility
- Others: tubal blockage, age-related factors, uterine problems, previous tubal ligation, endometriosis
Treatments for infertility vary from supplemental hormornes through to more intense forms of therapy such as IVF.
Utrogestan is micronized progesterone in capsule form. It is structurally identical to the progesterone produced by a woman’s body and is used to support conception in normal cycles as well as being used in assisted reproductive technologies as luteal phase support.
Menopause
The most dramatic changes that a women undergoes throughout her life time are linked to hormonal changes during the menopausal transition.
Hormones do not only change during puberty; they change every month as part of your menstrual cycle. Eventually, you enter a period of time when your menstrual cycle gradually shuts down, Menopause.
Menopause is a part of life. It is brought on by a decrease in the production of hormones, particulary estrogen. Natural menopause is complete 1 year after the final period.
For some women, menopausal symptoms begin several years before their final period. During this transition, hormone levels in a woman’s reproductive system begin to decrease. This natural depletion is what causes menopausal symptoms.
The symptoms and age at which natural menopause occurs is as different as each woman. On average, a woman may experience menopause anywhere from her 40s to mid-50s. Three to five years before menopause, a woman may begin to experience menopausal symptoms. Bleeding irregularities, hot flushes, night sweating and palpitations are the predominant and the most characteristic manifestations of the menopausal transition.
Hormone therapy
Hormone replacement therapy is often prescribed for the treatment of menopausal symptoms. Most symptoms can be managed effectively with estrogen replacement therapies. If you have a uterus, a healthcare provider may prescribe a progestogen with your estrogen.
Oestrogel is a transdermal estradiol gel that is a topical clear application. The active ingredient, estradiol, is similar to the estrogen your body produces naturally.
Utrogestan is micronized progesterone in capsule form. It is structurally identical to the progesterone produced by a woman’s body. Capsules are used with estrogen in postmenopausal women with a uterus for the prevention of abnormal thickening of the lining of the uterus.
Menstrual Irregularities
Bleeding irregularities can occur any time in women’s life. This can be changes in blood flow and bleeding pattern.
Bleeding disturbances that may accur during the menstrual cycle are :
- Menorrhagia — a prolonged and heavy menstrual flow.
- Hypomenorrhea — a scanty flow which usually lasts less than three days.
- Amenorrhea — an absence of menstruation in a woman of reproductive age
- Primary amenorrhea — is defined as an absence of secondary sexual characteristics by age 14 with no menarche, or normal secondary sexual characteristics but no menarche by 16 years of age.
- Secondary amenorrhea is often caused by hormonal disturbances and is defined as the absence of menses for three months in a woman with previously normal menstruation or nine months for women with a history of oligomenorrhea.
- Oligomenorrhea — bleeding at greater than 42-day intervals
- Polymenorrhea — bleeding at intervals of 21 days or less
- Mid-Cycle Staining — a spotting or staining of blood at about the time of ovulation.
- Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding — is irregular uterine bleeding that occurs in the absence of pathology or medical illness. These disorders are characterized by total irregularity — unpredictable in many ways —excessively heavy or light, prolonged, frequent, or random.
Bleeding irregularities are frequently related to hormonal imbalance. Hormonal therapy, cyclic progesterone and / or estrogen, may be a treatment option to regulate the cycle.
Utrogestan is micronized progesterone in capsule form. It is structurally identical to the progesterone produced by a woman’s body. Capsules are used to treat the absence of menstrual periods in women who have previously had a menstrual period.
Mastodynia
Mastodynia (Breast pain) affects up to 70% of women at same time in their reproductive lives.
Severe cyclical Mastodynia lasting more than 5 days/month and of sufficient intensity to interfere physical, social, intimate, and work-related activities is reported among 30% of premenopausal women.
Hormonal fluctuations affecting breast tenderness / pain maybe related to the following :
- Menstruation
- Puberty
- Estrogen replacement therapy