What causes premature ovarian failure?

Premature ovarian failure mainly occurs in some middle-aged and elderly female friends. Appropriate treatment measures should be found after it occurs. If it is in the early stage of the disease, systematic treatment should be given to increase the chances of cure. Otherwise, female friends will become irritable, have decreased sexual function, facial flushing and other symptoms. Once these manifestations occur, they will seriously affect the patient's life.

Premature ovarian failure (POF) refers to amenorrhea before the age of 40 due to ovarian failure. It is characterized by primary or secondary amenorrhea accompanied by increased blood gonadotropin levels and decreased estrogen levels, and is accompanied by a series of low estrogen symptoms of varying degrees such as hot flashes, sweating, facial flushing, decreased libido, etc.

The average natural menopause age for women is 50 to 52 years old. There are differences in the menopause age among races and regions, but the absolute values ​​are not much different. Coulam et al. summarized the natural amenorrhea of ​​1,858 women and found that the incidence of POF in women under 40 years old was 1% and that in women under 30 years old was 1‰. POF accounts for 10% to 28% of primary amenorrhea and 4% to 18% of secondary amenorrhea. The incidence of POF among women in Beijing was found to be 1.8%. It can be seen that POF is not uncommon in clinical practice.

1. Amenorrhea is divided into primary amenorrhea and secondary amenorrhea. Secondary amenorrhea occurs before the age of 40. A survey of a large sample of POF patients found that there were no characteristic signs of menstrual abnormalities before amenorrhea. Some people suddenly experience amenorrhea after regular menstruation, some experience amenorrhea after stopping birth control pills or giving birth, and some experience irregular menstrual cycles and periods before menopause.

2. Infertility Some patients seek medical treatment for infertility and are diagnosed with premature ovarian failure. Infertility is the main reason for patients with premature ovarian failure to seek medical treatment and suffer. There are primary infertility and secondary infertility, so those with a family history of premature ovarian failure are advised to plan pregnancy as early as possible.

3. Symptoms of low estrogen: Symptoms of low estrogen (hot flashes and/or dyspareunia, etc.) are rare in patients with primary amenorrhea (22.2%). If present, they are mostly related to previous use of estrogen replacement therapy. Symptoms of low estrogen are common in patients with secondary amenorrhea (85.6%). This is consistent with the theory that low estrogen symptoms are caused by estrogen withdrawal. These low estrogen symptoms also include atrophic vaginitis and atrophic urethritis with frequent and painful urination.

4. Manifestations of concomitant autoimmune diseases such as Addison's disease, thyroid disease, diabetes, lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, vitiligo and Crohn's disease. There are also subtle symptoms of adrenal insufficiency, such as recent weight loss, loss of appetite, vague abdominal pain, weakness, increased skin pigmentation, and salt cravings.