Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Bogelbaum Here to the uninformed, a missed period can
Speaker 1: only mean one thing, You're pregnant, But in reality, there
Speaker 1: are numerous reasons why your period might be late or missing. Altogether,
Speaker 1: the menstrual cycle is closely tied to your overall well being.
Speaker 1: Every Body is different, so every cycle works a little differently.
Speaker 1: The typical cycle is twenty eight days long, with three
Speaker 1: to five days of period bleeding, but anything from a
Speaker 1: cycle of twenty one to thirty five days is considered normal.
Speaker 1: And your period might be a couple days longer, shorter,
Speaker 1: and again that's just normal variation. And no, it's not
Speaker 1: literally tied to the cycle of the moon. We're not
Speaker 1: wear wolves, or at least not most of us. But
Speaker 1: if your body is out of balance, that can affect
Speaker 1: the timing of your period or prevent it entirely. The
Speaker 1: medical term for absent menstruation is amenorrhea. Primary emenoriea refers
Speaker 1: to late onset of menstruation or not having started menstruation
Speaker 1: by the age of sixteen. However, the condition is quite rare,
Speaker 1: affecting less than one percent of the population. By the way,
Speaker 1: it's also very common for people to miss periods during
Speaker 1: the first couple years that they start menstruating because their
Speaker 1: bodies haven't settled into a normal cycle yet. A secondary
Speaker 1: amenoriea is more what we're talking about today. It's when
Speaker 1: you've begun menstruating but later stop four to three or
Speaker 1: more cycles. This affects about four percent of the population
Speaker 1: and can be caused by a host of factors, though
Speaker 1: most involve heightened stress, whether physical, mental, or emotional. That's
Speaker 1: because stress can prevent your body from ovulating, that is,
Speaker 1: releasing an egg, which is the precur search to menstruation
Speaker 1: and occurs about fourteen to sixteen days before most periods.
Speaker 1: A stress is a silent menace. It's the primary cause
Speaker 1: of lots of physical ailments. Emotional stress is a particularly
Speaker 1: common cause of late or misted periods in teenagers and
Speaker 1: can affect adults as well. That's because emotional or mental
Speaker 1: anxiety can negatively affect the hypothalamus, which is the part
Speaker 1: of the brain that regulates hormones. It controls the creation
Speaker 1: of the gnatotropin releasing hormone, which in turn signals the
Speaker 1: pituitary gland to secrete the hormones that cause both ovulation
Speaker 1: and menstruation. So if your hypothalamus is impaired by stress,
Speaker 1: there's a distinct possibility that your system won't release an
Speaker 1: EG and won't build up your uterine lining, so there
Speaker 1: will be nothing for you to menstruate, meaning you'll miss
Speaker 1: your period. A stress can include factors like travel and
Speaker 1: other changes to your daily routine like getting a new job.
Speaker 1: Anything that disrupts your usual sleeping and eating schedules can
Speaker 1: potentially affect your period. Obviously, some stress is normal, that's life,
Speaker 1: but being mindful of how it affects you personally that,
Speaker 1: since everyone processes stress differently, is the key to getting
Speaker 1: a handle on it. If you miss periods but they
Speaker 1: return once some anxious situation passes, make a note of it,
Speaker 1: then look into ways to manage your stress. Obviously, this
Speaker 1: is a personal and complicated matter, and you might want
Speaker 1: to talk with the healthcare professional about it, but common
Speaker 1: solutions include exercise in general, breath focused exercise like yoga
Speaker 1: in particular, meditation, mindfulness practices, talk therapy or psychiatric medications.
Speaker 1: And Okay, I know I just said that exercise is good,
Speaker 1: but there is such thing as too much exercise. The
Speaker 1: physical stress that you put your body under during particular
Speaker 1: long or intense exercise sessions can cause your body to
Speaker 1: sort of reallocate resources to prevent injury, sort of like
Speaker 1: on Star Trek when they divert power to the shields.
Speaker 1: After all, your period isn't technically a necessary function. As
Speaker 1: many as forty four percent of women and other people
Speaker 1: who menstruate who exercise vigorously experience a man a rhea
Speaker 1: compared with just two to five percent of the whole population.
Speaker 1: This also ties into body weight and for professional athletes,
Speaker 1: emotional stress. Speaking of body weight in general, medical professionals
Speaker 1: can overemphasize body weight alone as a cause of physical ailments.
Speaker 1: Everyone has their own healthy weight, but whatever healthy looks
Speaker 1: like for you, if you're severely under or over that weight,
Speaker 1: it can place stress on your organs, which can delay
Speaker 1: or prevent menstruation. In most cases, a gradual weight gain
Speaker 1: or weight loss will allow the return of a normal cycle.
Speaker 1: It's critical to avoid doing that rapidly, as that can
Speaker 1: place further strain on your body. This is definitely a
Speaker 1: good reason to consult with the healthcare professional to discuss
Speaker 1: your particular needs. They can help you avoid fad diets
Speaker 1: in favor of a variety and balance of foods that's
Speaker 1: right for you. In some cases, elate or missed periods
Speaker 1: can also be the result of more complicated or serious
Speaker 1: medical conditions. These can include everything from polycystic ovarian syndrome,
Speaker 1: thyroid disease, petuitary disease, a peituitary tumor sexually transmitted infections,
Speaker 1: other infections, or even diabetes, liver ailments, or irritable bowel syndrome.
Speaker 1: So if you've ruled out everything else or are experiencing
Speaker 1: other symptoms, definitely talk to a health care provider. Just
Speaker 1: remember that there are lots of normal things, like some
Speaker 1: methods of birth control, other medications like into depressants and
Speaker 1: perimenopause that can mess with your cycle, And of course
Speaker 1: you might actually be pregnant, but a quick, cheap home
Speaker 1: pregnancy test can rule that one out. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: based on the article five common reasons for a late
Speaker 1: period on how stuffworks dot Com, written by Brion O'Connor.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks
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