What is premature ovarian
failure?
When
a woman’s ovaries stop working before age 40, she is said to have premature ovarian
insufficiency (POI) or premature ovarian failure (POF) also, known as premature
menopause, is a common condition, affecting
1–2%
of women younger than 40 years of age and 0.1%
of women,
younger than 30 years of age. When this happens, a woman’s menstrual cycles
become irregular and stop. Her ovaries stop making hormones such as oestrogen
and progesterone and she stops releasing eggs (ovulating) regularly or at all.
Some
women develop POF when they are teenagers, even before they start to have
menstrual periods. If that happens, the teen will never experience normal
function of her ovaries. For other women experiencing POF, their ovaries may
continue to intermittently release (ovulate) eggs and make hormones; these
women may continue to have menstrual cycles for months or years before their
ovaries completely shut down. For this reason, the currently used term POI is
preferred to the older terminology “premature ovarian failure (POF).
The causes of POF are
largely unknown
In
human females, the process of ovarian follicular
maturation,
or folliculogenesis, is a highly organised and
complex
process. Folliculogenesis is the progressive
maturation
of small primordial follicles that progress to
become
large ovulatory follicles. When follicles eventually mature, the oocytes are released from the
surface of the ovary, collected by the
uterine
tube, and either proceed to become fertilised.
Premature
ovarian failure (POF) encompasses a heterogeneous spectrum of conditions, with
phenotypic variability among patients. The causes of POF remains unknown in
most cases. A
genetic cause of POF is identified in few patients, i.e. in 5-7% of the total
cases, whereas aetiology remains most often undiscovered. Fragile X syndrome is
one of the genetic causes of POF which can be transmitted in the family.
Women
receiving cyclophosphamide for either progressive glomerulonephritis or
rheumatoid arthritis are at risk of developing POF.
Malnutrition and cigarette smoking are perhaps
the only
consistent environmental features associated
with an
earlier menopause.
The first known significant cause is damage to
the
ovaries, such as that caused by iatrogenic
agents like
chemotherapy or radiotherapy pelvic surgery may be
associated with ovarian failure. Surgical
menopause
may be induced by oophorectomy, but
interestingly
hysterectomy to remove the uterus is also
associated with
an earlier menopause
Premature
ovarian failure (POF) may be considered as an autoimmune endocrine disease.
Autoantibodies and lymphocyte subset changes are associated with premature
ovarian failure. This problem can run in family as well.
What POF women experience
Women with POF experience menopausal symptoms,
such as hot flushes, night sweats and vaginal
dryness, In addition, there is increased risk of
developing osteoporosis because of the lengthened time of exposure to reduced
oestrogen similar to those going through a natural menopause.
For mostwomen, it can be an unexpected and
distressing
diagnosis, with unpleasant symptoms, but made
worse
by the fact that it coincides with infertility
Premature
ovarian failure (POF) is a disorder associated with female infertility, and it
affects approximately 1% of women under the age of 40 yr and encompasses a heterogeneous spectrum of
conditions . It can be attributed to two major mechanisms: follicle dysfunction
and follicle depletion .
Despite
having amenorrhea and markedly elevated serum gonadotropin levels, some women
with karyotypically normal spontaneous premature ovarian failure, nevertheless,
have ovarian follicles that function intermittently. Graafian follicles capable
of responding to these high FSH levels are faced with high serum LH levels as
well, which might prevent normal follicle function.
www.femelife.com
Premenopausal
women may be at risk for the development of osteoporosis. However, bone loss in
women with amenorrhea from other causes has not been assessed. Women with POF have diminished general and sexual
well-being and are less satisfied with their sexual lives than other women
TREATMENT
Many
women with POF would benefit from symptom relief by the use of exogenous
steroids, to compensate for the loss of ovarian hormone estrogen and possibly progesterone
and androgens. Menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes, night sweats and
vaginal dryness,
can
be relieved by oestrogen replacement, such as sequential HRT or oral
contraceptive pill.
Infertility
is a significant issue for most women
undergoing
POF, A number
of treatment regimens have been evaluated with the aim of restoring fertility;
however, treatments with
clomiphene,
gonadotrophins, GNRH agonists or immunosuppressants
do
not significantly improve the chance of conception and are not used.
The
only reliable fertility treatment is the use of donor eggs,
which
is an assisted reproductive procedure that is widely practised in most countries.
At present, in vitro maturation of immature follicles is possible, but in vitro
growth and maturation from stored ovarian tissue is not reliably achievable in
humans. for
women with impending POF, there
may
not be any alternatives. Young women about to begin
cancer
treatment are encouraged to attempt a cycle of IVF if time permits, as storing
an embryo is more likely to be successful than using a frozen follicle for
later use.
In
addition, young women may store ovarian tissue, in the hope that at a later
stage their tissue can be reimplanted, or that the use of in vitro growth and
maturation of immature follicles may restore fertility
Women
suffering from oestrogen deficiency should be recommended a
number
of measures to protect against osteoporosis, including increased physical
exercise, eating a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D and avoiding risk factors
such as smoking and high alcohol intake.
Women
with POF are advised to undergo HRT until the normal age of
menopause
addition of testosterone to HRT to improve
sexual
function and wellbeing.
Premature
ovarian failure (POF), a major life-changing condition that affects a
significant proportion of young women, remains an enigma and the researcher's
minefield. As women increasingly survive childhood cancers due to improved
iatrogenic interventions, the number of POF sufferers will inevitably increase.
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