PERIOD TALK

WHAT IS THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE?

HOW DOES IT WORK??

ARE THERE PROBLEMS RELATED TO IT???

ARE THERE PROBLEMS RELATED TO IT???PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME

SIGNS & SIMPTOMS

More than 200 different symptoms have been associated with PMS. Common emotional and non-specific symptoms include stress, anxiety and difficulty in falling asleep (insomnia), headache, fatigue, mood swings, increased emotional sensitivity, and changes in libido.

Physical symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle include bloating, lower back pain, abdominal cramps, constipation/diarrhea, swelling or tenderness in the breasts, cyclic acne, and joint or muscle pain, food cravings. The exact symptoms and their intensity vary significantly from woman to woman, and even somewhat from cycle to cycle. Most women with premenstrual syndrome experience only a few of the possible symptoms, in a relatively predictable pattern.

CAUSES

While PMS is linked to the luteal phase, the causes of PMS are not clear, but several factors may be involved. Changes in hormones during the menstrual cycle seem to be an important factor; changing hormone levels affect some women more than others. Chemical changes in the brain, stress, and emotional problems, such as depression, do not seem to cause PMS but they may make it worse. Low levels of vitamins and minerals, high sodium, alcohol, and/or caffeine can exacerbate symptoms such as water retention and bloating. PMS occurs more often in women who are between their late 20s and early 40s; have at least 1 child; have a family history of depression; and have a past medical history of either postpartum depression or a mood disorder.

There is a wide range of estimates of how many women suffer from PMS. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists estimates that at least 85 percent of menstruating women have at least 1 PMS symptom as part of their monthly cycle. Most of these women have fairly mild symptoms that do not need treatment. Others (about 3 to 8 percent) have a more severe form of PMS, called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

WHAT IS THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE?

The menstrual cycle is the cycle of natural changes that occurs in the uterus and ovary as

an essential part of making sexual reproduction possible. Its timing is governed

by endogenous (internal) biological cycles. The menstrual cycle is essential for the production of eggs, and for the preparation of the uterus

for pregnancy. The cycle occurs only in fertile female humans and other female primates. In human females, the menstrual cycle occurs repeatedly between the age

of menarche, when cycling begins, until menopause, when it ends.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The average menstrual cycle lasts 28 days. The variability of menstrual cycle lengths is highest for women under 25 years of age and is lowest, that is, most regular, for ages 35 to 39. Subsequently, the variability increases slightly for women aged 40 to 44. Usually, length variation between eight and 20 days in a woman is considered as moderately irregular menstrual cycles. Variation of 21 days or more is considered very irregular.

The follicular phase also seems to get significantly shorter with age (geometric mean 14.2 days in women aged 18–24 vs. 10.4 days in women aged 40–44).

MENSTRUALCYCLE

Uterine

Cycle

OVARIAN

Cycle