Perimenopause and the Use of Fertility Tracking: 3 Case Studies

2021 ◽  
pp. 002436392110507
Author(s):  
Maria G. Meyers ◽  
Lauren Vitale ◽  
Kathryn Elenchin
Keyword(s):  
Luteinizing Hormone ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Reproductive Stage ◽  
Vasomotor Symptoms ◽  
Reproductive Aging ◽  
Hormonal Changes ◽  
Irregular Menses ◽  
Urine Assay ◽  
Monitor Device

Perimenopause is a time in a woman's life where fertility may vary depending upon her age and her reproductive stage and has been defined as the transition period prior to menopause that is characterized by irregular menses, hormonal changes, vasomotor symptoms, and declining fertility (Casper, 2020). Fertility tracking during this time in a woman's reproductive stage has not been widely studied. Employing the use of Luteinizing Hormone Urine Assay sticks, an electronic hormonal monitor device or mucus, we propose a set of guidelines to determine the potentially fertile times of a woman's cycle based on staging according to the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop (STRAW) criteria and illustrate their application with three case reports.

Menopause

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan D. Reed ◽  
Eliza L. Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Algorithm ◽  
Menopausal Symptoms ◽  
Menopausal Transition ◽  
Pharmacologic Therapy ◽  
Reproductive Aging ◽  
Hormonal Changes ◽  
Hormone Production ◽  
Natural Menopause ◽  
Estrogen Receptor Modulators ◽  
The Individual

The female reproductive system matures in a continuous, natural process from menarche to menopause as the finite numbers of oocytes produced during fetal development are gradually lost to ovulation and senescence. Menopause is defined as the permanent cessation of menses; by convention, the diagnosis of menopause is not made until the individual has had 12 months of amenorrhea. Menopause is thus characterized by the menstrual changes that reflect oocyte depletion and subsequent changes in ovarian hormone production. However, hormonal changes, rather than the cessation of menstruation itself, cause the manifestations that occur around the time of menopause. Therefore, a woman who has undergone a hysterectomy but who retains her ovaries can experience normal menopausal symptoms as oocyte depletion leads to changes in estrogen levels, even though cessation of menstruation occurred with surgery. This review covers definitions, natural menopause, menopausal transition and postmenopausal symptom management, and premature ovarian insufficiency. Figures show stages of reproductive aging, serum concentrations of hormones during menopausal transition and postmenopause, hormonal changes associated with reproductive aging, symptoms of menopausal transition and menopause, treatment algorithm(s), and Women’s Health Initiative findings: risks and benefits of estrogen alone and estrogen plus progestin by age group: 50 to 59, 60 to 69, and 70 to 79 years. Tables list target tissues, physical manifestations, and menopausal symptoms; selective estrogen receptor modulators used in postmenopausal women; differential diagnosis and evaluation of common menopausal symptoms; estrogen doses; progestogen dosing for endometrial protection; nonhormonal pharmaceutical hot flash therapies; and pharmacologic therapy for genitourinary atrophy. This review contains 6 highly rendered figures, 7 tables, and 119 references.

Menopause

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan D. Reed ◽  
Eliza L. Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Algorithm ◽  
Menopausal Symptoms ◽  
Menopausal Transition ◽  
Pharmacologic Therapy ◽  
Reproductive Aging ◽  
Hormonal Changes ◽  
Hormone Production ◽  
Natural Menopause ◽  
Estrogen Receptor Modulators ◽  
The Individual

The female reproductive system matures in a continuous, natural process from menarche to menopause as the finite numbers of oocytes produced during fetal development are gradually lost to ovulation and senescence. Menopause is defined as the permanent cessation of menses; by convention, the diagnosis of menopause is not made until the individual has had 12 months of amenorrhea. Menopause is thus characterized by the menstrual changes that reflect oocyte depletion and subsequent changes in ovarian hormone production. However, hormonal changes, rather than the cessation of menstruation itself, cause the manifestations that occur around the time of menopause. Therefore, a woman who has undergone a hysterectomy but who retains her ovaries can experience normal menopausal symptoms as oocyte depletion leads to changes in estrogen levels, even though cessation of menstruation occurred with surgery. This review covers definitions, natural menopause, menopausal transition and postmenopausal symptom management, and premature ovarian insufficiency. Figures show stages of reproductive aging, serum concentrations of hormones during menopausal transition and postmenopause, hormonal changes associated with reproductive aging, symptoms of menopausal transition and menopause, treatment algorithm(s), and Women’s Health Initiative findings: risks and benefits of estrogen alone and estrogen plus progestin by age group: 50 to 59, 60 to 69, and 70 to 79 years. Tables list target tissues, physical manifestations, and menopausal symptoms; selective estrogen receptor modulators used in postmenopausal women; differential diagnosis and evaluation of common menopausal symptoms; estrogen doses; progestogen dosing for endometrial protection; nonhormonal pharmaceutical hot flash therapies; and pharmacologic therapy for genitourinary atrophy. This review contains 6 figures, 8 tables, and 122 references.

scholarly journals Luteinizing Hormone, a Reproductive Regulator That Modulates the Processing of Amyloid-β Precursor Protein and Amyloid-β Deposition

2004 ◽  
Vol 279 (19) ◽  
pp. 20539-20545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Bowen ◽  
Giuseppe Verdile ◽  
Tianbing Liu ◽  
Albert F. Parlow ◽  
George Perry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Luteinizing Hormone ◽  
Sex Steroids ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Neuroblastoma Cells ◽  
Amyloid Β ◽  
Leuprolide Acetate ◽  
Precursor Protein ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
Hormonal Changes ◽  
Age Related

Hormonal changes associated with the dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis following menopause/andropause have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Experimental support for this has come from studies demonstrating an increase in amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition following ovariectomy/castration. Because sex steroids and gonadotropins are both part of the HPG feedback loop, any loss in sex steroids results in a proportionate increase in gonadotropins. To assess whether Aβ generation was due to the loss of serum 17β-estradiol or to the up-regulation of serum gonadotropins, we treated C57Bl/6J mice with the anti-gonadotropin leuprolide acetate, which suppresses both sex steroids and gonadotropins. Leuprolide acetate treatment resulted in a 3.5-fold (p< 0.0001) and a 1.5-fold (p< 0.024) reduction in total brain Aβ1-42 and Aβ1-40 concentrations, respectively, after 8 weeks of treatment. To further explore the role of gonadotropins in promoting amyloidogenesis, M17 neuroblastoma cells were treated with the gonadotropin luteinizing hormone (LH) at concentrations equivalent to early adulthood (10 mIU/ml) or post-menopause/andropause (30 mIU/ml). LH did not alter amyloid-β precursor protein (AβPP) expression but did alter AβPP processing toward the amyloidogenic pathway as evidenced by increased secretion and insolubility of Aβ, decreased αAβPP secretion, and increased AβPP-C99 levels. These results suggest the marked increases in serum LH following menopause/andropause as a physiologically relevant signal that could promote Aβ secretion and deposition in the aging brain. Suppression of the age-related increase in serum gonadotropins using anti-gonadotropin agents may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for AD.

scholarly journals Applying Behavioral and Physiological Measures to Assess the Relative Impact of the Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic Closure on Two Mammal Species at the Oregon Zoo: Cheetah (A. jubatus) and Giraffe (G. c. reticulata and G. c. tippelskirchii)

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3526
Author(s):  
Laurel B. Fink ◽  
Candace D. Scarlata ◽  
Becca VanBeek ◽  
Todd E. Bodner ◽  
Nadja C. Wielebnowski
Keyword(s):  
Transition Period ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Individual Behavior ◽  
Initial Time ◽  
Hormonal Changes ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Presence And Absence ◽  
The Times

The effect of visitor presence on zoo animals has been explored in numerous studies over the past two decades. However, the opportunities for observations without visitors have been very limited at most institutions. In 2020, the Oregon Zoo was closed, in response to the global SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, from 15 March 2020 to 12 July 2020, resulting in approximately four consecutive months without visitor presence. This study aimed to quantify potential behavioral and hormonal changes expressed during two transition periods in zoo visitor attendance: the initial time period before and after closure in March 2020 and time before and after reopening in July 2020. Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGM) concentrations of resident giraffes (n = 2) and cheetahs (n = 2) were tracked using enzyme immunoassay (EIA) analyses. Average fGM concentrations during the two transition periods were compared using a two-way mixed ANOVA. Additionally, twice-weekly scan sampling was used to quantify behavioral observations across the transitions, which were analyzed as individual behavior proportions. Individual behavior proportions were compared across the Zoo’s opening status and time of day using Kruskal–Wallis (H) tests. The results of our analyses showed the following outcomes: (1) significant increases in fGM concentrations for cheetahs and giraffes between the transition periods but not within them; (2) a significant increase in time spent ‘not visible’ in the cheetahs in the second transition period; and (3) increased vigilance behaviors in the giraffes immediately after the Zoo’s closure. However, the changes observed in fGM concentrations may be more strongly correlated with concomitant social changes (giraffes) and some medical events (cheetahs) rather than with the Zoo’s opening status. Nevertheless, this study was able to quantify differences in behavioral frequencies and fGM concentration in cheetahs and giraffes at the Oregon Zoo during the times of transition between visitor’s presence and absence. The results indicate that, while there was a possible, but relatively minor impact of the presence and absence of visitors on some behaviors, the differences observed in fGM concentration may have been more affected by some of the concomitant social changes and medical events that happened during the same period than by the presence or absence of visitors.

scholarly journals Endocrine Events Involved in Puberty: A Revisit to Existing Knowledge

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaista Aslam
Keyword(s):  
Hormonal Regulation ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Growth Spurt ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Hormonal Changes ◽  
Complex Phenomenon ◽  
Energy Reserves ◽  
Current State ◽  
Sufficient Energy

Puberty is a multifaceted complex phenomenon, comprised of a series of events, controlled by hormones and other regulatory factors. It is the transition period between childhood and adolescence with key important changes occurring in physical, biological, cognitive, psychological and social spheres of an individual’s life. These changes are not only important in the personal life of an individual but also affect his/her relationship with others in the society. The interaction between the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary is crucial for the onset of puberty. Leptin, secreted by adipocytes, provides the first signal to the hypothalamus that sufficient energy reserves are present to initiate the process of puberty. These signals are followed by a cascade of hormonal changes broadly referred to as adrenarche, gonadarche, and a puberty growth spurt. This is an overview of the current state of knowledge in the hormonal regulation of the events leading to puberty. How to cite this: Aslam S. Endocrine Events Involved in Puberty: A Revisit to Existing Knowledge. Life and Science. 2020; 1(1): 38-50.  doi: https://doi.org/10.37185/L&S.1.1.43

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