September 2nd, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling
The headline of a story at ABC news about infertility among female athletes is “Female Athletes Are Too Fit To Get Pregnant“. Many women athletes in their 20s, at peak performance levels and peak physical fitness by most measures, may find themselves unable to conceive. This is attributed to low percentages of body fat, which essentially shut down the hypothalamus, which then fails to trigger the H-P-O (hypothalamus, pituitary, ovary) hormone sequence necessary for regular menstrual cycles. About 12% of infertile women seeking treatment are athletes.
According to the article, even women who are not professional athletes (or training at that level) can experience infertility due to physical fitness:
It noted that recreational jogging — only 12 to 18 miles a week — can result in poor follicular development, decreased estrogen and progesterone secretion and absent ovulation.
Setting aside the seriousness of infertility, I’m intrigued by the tone of the article, and especially the language of the headline. In North America today, there is a strong emphasis socially and in mass media on the importance of exercise and being physically fit, and corresponding demonization of fatness as a personal moral failing. But amenorrhea and infertility as a result of thinness is reported without judgment and body-shaming. There are no quotations from experts about women exercising too much or advice to stop working out; instead, professional athletes are advised to freeze their eggs in their early 20s. When fat* women have trouble conceiving or have difficult pregnancies, it is frequently attributed to their weight, which is presumed to be a behavioral a matter of choice.
*I am following the practice of other advocates of fat acceptance and Health At Every Size (HAES) in using the term fat as a descriptive adjective, not a pejorative.
Tags: Amenorrhea, fat acceptance, H-P-O Axis, health, hypothalamus, infertility, ovulation, physical fitness
Posted in Amenorrhea, Health Care, Media, Menstruation | 1 Comment »
December 3rd, 2009 by Elizabeth Kissling
A couple of months ago, we wrote about Kate Seear’s research findings that menstrual etiquette is a frequent cause of delayed diagnosis of endometriosis. In related news, medical researchers writing in a recent issue of the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology have found that adenomyosis, the presence of endometrial tissue embedded within the muscular wall of the uterus, is under-diagnosed.
S. Basak and A. Saha, the study’s authors, examined the data of more than 1000 hysterectomies performed for pelvic pain or abnormal uterine bleeding (in other words, hysterectomies for cancer and uterine prolapse were excluded from the data set) in the UK in a three-year period. In 26 of those cases, adenomyosis was identified post-surgery via tissue analysis.
The medical histories in these 26 cases were then examined more closely. The majority of the women had sought medical attention for menorraghia (excessive menstrual bleeding) and dysmenorrhea (painful periods). Eleven of the women’s uteruses were enlarged, and 16 underwent pelvic ultrasound exams. But adenomyosis was suspected clinically in only one case; the others were identified as uterine fibroids (five cases) or “dysfunctional uterine bleeding” (20 cases).
Examination of patients’ case histories found that the medical consultations focused on menstrual flow. The researchers found that other symptoms of adenomyosis, such as pelvic pain, pain during intercourse, painful periods, and feelings of pelvic pressure, were not adequately addressed – even when examination or ultrasound findings indicated an enlarged uterus.
Basak and Saha ask,
Does failure of preoperative suspicion of adenomyosis matter? In the absence of an accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment is unlikely to be offered, or may be delayed. This results in failure of treatment and continued suffering.
To identify adenomyosis earlier, they recommend more careful discussion with patients of pelvic symptoms, MRI, and follow-up care with women who elect for conservative management of their symptoms. Once again, open communication about all aspects of menstruation isn’t about challenging taboos just for the sake of challenge; it’s critical for women’s health and well-being.
Tags: adenomyosis, health, Health Care, pain
Posted in Communication, Dysmenorrhea, Health Care, Menorrhagia, Menstruation, New Research | Comments Off
November 9th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kissling
Guest Post by Holly Grigg-Spall, freelance writer (”Sweetening the Pill“)
The popularity of the birth control pill is an essential element of our cultural attitude towards menstruation, and women’s bodies as a whole. After taking the pill for ten years I recently decided to stop, for good. I have this month had my first real period in a decade. I didn’t decide to come off the pill because I want a baby, it’s because I want to blog, and have been blogging about the pill for several months. My blog ranges from my own personal ramblings about taking the pill, to adventures in the world of women’s studies. I am not religious, pro-abstinence or anything like a hippy, I just came to realise that I was taking a very powerful medication every day and I wasn’t sure exactly why. Continue reading...
Tags: big pharma, birth control pill, guest post, health, withdrawal symptoms
Posted in Birth Control, Pharmaceutical | 19 Comments »
Readers should note that statements published in re: Cycling are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Society as a whole.
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