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AMENORRHEA RESOURCES

What is Amenorrhea?

Amenorrhea is the absence of menstrual cycles.

Amenorrhea is called primary when a woman has not started to menstruate by the age of 16 years, while secondary amenorrhea refers to the abnormal cessation of menstruation in a woman who previously has had menstrual cycles.

In amenorrheic women, the levels of female reproductive hormones are not sufficient to stimulate menstruation. This condition is sometimes associated with malnutrition, such as that which occurs in anorexia nervosa, or with extreme exercise, which puts excessive nutritional and other demands on the body.

An association between stress and amenorrhea has also been demonstrated.

Amenorrhea may also result from potentially serious disorders of the ovaries, the hypothalamus, or the pituitary gland; therefore, a physician should always evaluate chronic absence of menstrual cycles.

Prolonged amenorrhea can result in early bone loss and increased risk of osteoporosis. Amenorrhea occurs naturally in women who are breast-feeding,6 but in these circumstances it does not put the bones at risk.

Neuroendocrine Bulletin Archive

• Bone Loss in Women of Reproductive Age Part I - Amenorrheic Bone Loss

Profiles of the Endocrine Clinic: A Decade of the Massachusetts General Hospital Neuroendocrine Clinical Center.

APPOINTMENTS & REFERRALS Anne Klibanski, M.D.,  Director, Neuroendocrine Clinical Center aklibanski@partners.org Patients & Families with questions about referrals, consultations or appointments may contact: Voice:  617.726.7948 Fax:  617.726.1241 (Select here for maps of MGH) Outpatient clinic visits and inpatient consultations can be arranged by calling the Neuroendocrine Clinical Center office. Physicians with questions may contact Dr. Grinspoon at 617.726.7948

PHYSICIANS' PITUITARY INFORMATION SERVICE

Physicians with questions may contact: Dr Biller or Dr Klibanski at 617.726.3965 or 1.888.429.6863 e-mail pituitary.info@partners.org

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