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Page 23
| clear picture of whether hormonal irregularities are the cause of the infrequent periods. Usually this is the case. Of course, if a woman is taking oral contraceptive medication, there is the possibility that her periods are quite scant and therefore are perceived not as periods, but as some other irregularity such as midcycle bleeding; the more substantial flow periods may be perceived as periods that are far apart. |
| Other causes to consider in oligomenorrhea are the use of other drugs, whether prescribed or recreational. Some drugs used to treat psychosis, high blood pressure and some narcotics may have an effect on the normal cycle. Other causes to be considered are stress, weight loss, exercise and chronic disease. Again, these processes involve physiological changes which may account for hormonal irregularities. Cholesterol is a major building block for the production of steroid hormones, including the female reproductive hormones. Vitamins and minerals act as cofactors in the production and degradation of hormones. These can be deficient if there is a situation involving prolonged or acute stress or illness. As stated earlier, many of these nutrients will be selectively used for hormones and compounds that the body will use to reverse the effects of stress or illness. Exercise itself, when done in greater than moderate amounts, may stress the body, initiating the mechanisms addressed above. |
| Another consideration may be the health of the glands involved in the production of all of these hormones. Therefore, the health of the pituitary, hypothalamus, adrenal glands and ovaries should be examined. The ovaries may have growths on them which affect the types of hormones being produced by them. Since hormones from any gland act as |
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