Menorrhagia

Menorrhagia means excessive blood loss during menstruation. While this is defined as being more than 80 millilitres per cycle, since most women don't measure their blood loss in millilitres a more practical definition is that which causes the girl difficulties with daily living. There are a number of different causes including infection, pregnancy, and endometriosis, together with generalised disorders such as failure of the thyroid gland, or problems with blood clotting. In the absence of any other pathology affecting the uterus, the cause is so-called dysfunctional uterine bleeding (which simply means that the uterus is bleeding more heavily than it should). In younger women, particularly in the early days of menstruation, it is often associated with menstrual cycles which have not produced an egg - called anovulatory. The ripening follicle does not rupture, but continues to secrete oestrogen so that the lining of the womb becomes very thick. Eventually it is shed, producing large amounts of bleeding. It can be helped by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, drugs which increase the strength of capillary walls and drugs and that stop the breaking down of blood clots (called anti-fibrinolytic agents) may help, as may using the combined oral contraceptive pill.
 

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