Lab 10: Menorrhagia

by Elizabeth Jean

Menorrhagia is a heavy blood flow and prolonged menstrual period that affects daily activities. On average women's tend to lose on average 30-40 milliliters in 4-5 days, but someone that sufferers from menorrhagia can lose over 80 milliliters in one cycle. She will have to change her tampon or pad every 2 hours, and will experience blood clots bigger than a quarter, which can cause her to have low iron due to severe blood loss.

The cause can be from not producing an egg during the menstrual cycle, and can cause a hormone imbalance. Typically a women will ovulate by a egg being released every month, which will lead to pregnancy if the egg was implanted with a sperm. The cases where there isn't ovulation can be in cases such as someone who recently started menstruating and someone who is going to transition to menopause soon. Additional cause can be uterine fibroid (noncancerous, or benign, tumors), inherited bleeding disorders (Von Willebrand's disease or a platelet function disorder), and much more.

Treatments varies from case to case. Some of the treatments are, iron supplements due to anemia doctors will prescribe, oral progesterone to treat hormonal imbalance and reduce bleeding, and uterine artery embolization treats fibroid, a cause of menorrhagia, by blocking the arteries that feed them.

Reference URLs:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/295202#causes

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