What should I do if amenorrhea is caused by weight loss?

Women are very keen on having a devilish figure, so they will choose to use various methods to make themselves thinner. Some women even do things that are difficult to understand and choose to diet to lose weight. Sometimes I don’t eat for two days and just drink some water. If I lose weight like this, it is very unhealthy. And doing so may also lead to amenorrhea, so what should I do if weight loss causes amenorrhea?

Why does dieting cause amenorrhea?

A: There are feeding center and satiety center in the hypothalamus of human brain. Another important function of the hypothalamus is to secrete luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone. Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone can stimulate the pituitary gland to secrete luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone. The latter two hormones stimulate ovarian development and are of great significance to menstruation and egg production. This system is called the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. This axis is regulated by the cerebral cortex. When a person suffers from anorexia or subjectively compels them to reduce their food intake, the cerebral cortex will become dysfunctional. If you diet further, it will affect the function of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis, resulting in insufficient secretion of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, and reduced secretion of estrogen and progesterone from the ovaries, resulting in amenorrhea. Generally speaking, after just 4 days of dieting, women's hormone secretion will begin to become abnormal. Therefore, when treating this type of amenorrhea, the first condition is to resume diet and restore weight, otherwise taking medicine will be of no help.

Why does being too thin lead to amenorrhea?

A: The amount of adipose tissue can directly affect the endocrine regulation of the body that controls the menstrual cycle. Menarche occurs when the adipose tissue in the body reaches 17% of body weight; normal and regular menstruation can only be maintained when the adipose tissue increases to 22% of body weight. When the body weight is 5%-10% lower than the standard body weight, the menstrual cycle may change and affect fertility; when it is 15% lower than the standard body weight, amenorrhea may occur due to the inability to release estrogen normally. Generally, moderately obese girls have their first menstruation earlier than thin girls; malnutrition can delay the first menstruation. Anorexic girls whose weight is below the critical weight often have amenorrhea.

The adipose tissue in women's breasts, abdomen, omentum, and long bone marrow can convert androgens into estrogens. Adipose tissue is an important extragonadal source of estrogen. To increase estrogen levels, you should gain more weight.