SECONDARY AMENORRHEA Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SECONDARY AMENORRHEA - Assignment Example Pregnancy has been shown to be the primary factor leading to the development of secondary amenorrhea (Newson, 2013). The paper will discuss the possible causes of secondary amenorrhea in a female patient 20 and 45 years of age. It will also give a brief overview of each diagnosis with signs and symptoms. There are various causes of secondary amenorrhea; however, there are six major causes for the condition. The first major cause is psychogenic stress (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). Various forms of stress are said to lead to the development of amenorrhea. Stress is said to lead to increased production of a corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). This alters the hormones responsible for menses. The cause has no particular diagnostic test. However, women with stress as a cause show increased basal plasma cortisol (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). The second significant cause for this condition is loss of weight. Those women that experience loss of weight may fail to menstruate. Lack of menstruation in this scenario is due to changes in hypothalamia (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). The condition may return to normal when one gains weight. Exercise is also a cause for secondary amenorrhea. Those women that involve themselves in sports have a higher chance of acquiring the condition (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). In this case, physical, hormonal, nutritional, psychological, and environmental factors exert a significant influence in developing the condition (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). In amenorrheic athletes, the cause is associated with high cortisol levels. Moreover, discontinuation of pill is associated with the development of the condition. Those women that stop taking contraceptives are most likely to develop amenorrhea (Gindoff & Jewelewicz, 2015). Also, some drugs are responsible for development of the condition. The hypothalamic or central nervous system effects of drugs leads to the development of the syndrome (Gindoff &