An abnormality in the monthly cycle of menstrual bleeding. Menstrual disorders may be a sign of a problem in the pelvic area, such as fibroids, endometriosis, or pelvic inflammatory disease, but the cause is often unknown.
Dysmenorrhoea (painful periods) is the most common type of menstrual disorder. Other types of menstrual disorder are amenorrhoea (absence of menstruation), polymenorrhoea (too frequent menstruation), oligomenorrhoea (infrequent periods or scanty blood loss), and menorrhagia (excessive bleeding).
Some women have extreme variations in the length of menstrual cycles or menstrual periods, or in the amount of blood lost (see menstruation, irregular).... menstruation, disorders of
n. excessive secretion of androgen in women. It is associated with *hirsutism, acne, sparse or infrequent menstruation (oligomenorrhoea), absent or infrequent ovulation, infertility, endometrial *hyperplasia, *hyperlipidaemia, *hyperglycaemia, and hypertension; all these conditions may be the result of mutations in specific genes. See also virilization.... hyperandrogenism
(menses) n. the discharge of blood and of fragments of *endometrium from the vagina at intervals of about one month in women of child-bearing age (see menarche; menopause). Menstruation is that stage of the *menstrual cycle during which the endometrium, thickened in readiness to receive a fertilized egg cell (ovum), is shed because fertilization has not occurred. The normal duration of discharge varies from three to seven days. In anovular menstruation, discharge takes place without previous release of an egg cell from the ovary. Vicarious menstruation is bleeding from a mucous membrane other than the endometrium when normal menstruation is due. Retrograde menstruation is the backflow of blood and endometrial cells through the Fallopian tubes (see endometriosis). See also amenorrhoea; dysmenorrhoea; menorrhagia; oligomenorrhoea.
mental1 adj. relating to or affecting the mind.
mental2 adj. relating to the chin.... menstruation
(PCOS, Stein–Leventhal syndrome) a heterogeneous disorder characterized by *hyperandrogenism (clinical hirsutism, biochemical hyperandrogenism, or both) and ovarian dysfunction (with *polycystic ovaries), which results in amenorrhoea or oligomenorrhoea (absent or infrequent menstrual periods) and is associated with subfertility (from lack of ovulatory menstrual cycles). The condition is associated with obesity and *insulin resistance, which increase the risk of type 2 *diabetes mellitus, endometrial cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Treatment is based on dietary and exercise advice, *metformin, hormones to regulate the menstrual cycle, and in cases of subfertility, *clomifene to induce ovulation; the hyperandrogenism usually responds to *anti-androgens.... polycystic ovary syndrome
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