What You Need to Know about Menstrual Disease?
Womens Health > What You Need to Know about Menstrual Disease?
Menstrual disease refers to problem associated to monthly menstrual cycle. While some women are through their menstrual period without any or little concern, for others, menstrual cycle brings a number of physical and emotional symptoms leading to distress. They can have many types of menstrual diseases including cramping, skipped period, heavy bleeding etc.
Most menstrual diseases are benign, but you do need to get them evaluated and treated. Here are the major ones…
Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB): This menstrual disease refers to heavy (menorrhagia) or prolonged (hypermenorrhea) menstrual bleeding or occurrence of bleeding between periods (metrorrhagia).
Amenorrhea – This refers to the lack of a menstrual period. It may be primary or secondary. Primary amenorrhea is lack of menstruation by age 16. Secondary amenorrhea is lack of period for at least three months or longer in a woman who has been getting regular periods.
Dysmenorrhea – A woman has very painful periods with severe cramping in this menstrual disease.
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) – A woman experiences a number of severe physical and psychological symptoms a week or two before her period begins in this condition. Some of the common PMS symptoms include irritability, mood swings, depression, headache, body ache, food cravings, fluid retention, changes in sex drive and fatigue. The symptoms go away when the period begins.
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD): This is similar to PMS but is a far more severe than it is. The most common symptoms this menstrual disease are anxiety, enormous irritability, and mood swings.
Treatment of menstrual diseases
This includes lifestyle changes, medication and surgery. The treatment option depends upon the exact cause of the problem, your age, and if you wish to get pregnant. Ideally, you should go for less invasive options first.
The lifestyle changes to manage some of these diseases include taking healthy nutritious diet, cutting back fatty items, taking multivitamin-mineral supplements, and exercising regularly.
If hormonal imbalances are causing the menstrual disease, medications like contraceptives (birth control pills), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and progestins may be useful.