Contents:
- Medical Video: Ovulation - Nucleus Health
- What is anovulation?
- What are the symptoms and signs of anovulation?
- How does anovulation cause fertility problems?
- Causes of anovulation
- Can anovulation be treated?
Medical Video: Ovulation - Nucleus Health
The menstrual cycle involves hormonal changes in a woman's body. Hormone levels must go up and down at certain times to reach ovulation. Ovulation is the release of eggs from the ovary. However, in some menstrual cycles, the egg may not mature and women will not ovulate. This condition is called anovulation.
What is anovulation?
Anovulation occurs when a woman does not ovulate. Ovulation is the release of the egg from the ovary for fertilization. If ovulation is irregular but not completely gone, this is called oligo-ovulation.
You may have experienced it once or twice but didn't realize it. That's because when you experience anovulation, you may still see menstruation normally.
When anovulation occurs, women certainly cannot get pregnant because there are no eggs to fertilize sperm. However, for women who have menopause, this is normal. While women in childbearing age usually do not experience anovulation unless there is a condition that disrupts the body's hormone levels or damages the ovary.
What are the symptoms and signs of anovulation?
Anovulation or oligo-ovulation is a type of ovulation disorder (ovulation dysfunction). Usually women with this condition will experience irregular menstrual cycles.
In more severe conditions, a woman may not have menstruation at all. If your menstruation is shorter than 21 days or more than 36 days, you may experience ovulation dysfunction.
However, if your menstruation is in the normal range between 21-36 days, but the length of your cycle varies each month, this may also be a symptom of ovulation dysfunction.
How does anovulation cause fertility problems?
In couples without infertility, the possibility of conception occurs around 25 percent every month. Even when ovulation occurs normally, there is still a possibility that pregnancy will not occur.
While when a woman experiences anovulation, she cannot get pregnant because there is no fertilized egg. If you experience irregular ovulation, you have fewer opportunities to get pregnant, because ovulation is less frequent.
In addition, late ovulation does not produce the best quality eggs. This also makes the chances of conception less. Also, irregular ovulation means the hormones in a woman's body are not balanced.
This hormonal balance can sometimes cause other problems, including:
- Lack of fertile cervical mucus
- Excessive thinning or thickening of the endometrium (uterine wall)
- Very low progesterone level
- Shorter luteal phase
Causes of anovulation
Your eggs may not be separated due to a number of factors, such as drugs or certain conditions and external factors that affect hormone levels.
The most common cause of not ovulating is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Other potential causes of ovulation disorders include:
- Obesity
- Too low body weight
- Exercise is too heavy
- Hyperprolactinemia
- Premature ovarian failure
- Perimenopause, or low ovarian reserve
- Thyroid dysfunction (hyperthyroidism)
- Severe stress
Can anovulation be treated?
Because there are many factors that affect a woman's hormones and menstrual cycle, until now there is no cure for anovulation.
However, in many cases, the main cause of egg cells is not released or problems that affect hormone levels can be diagnosed by doctors and treated.
If this condition is related to external influences such as nutritional intake or lifestyle, improving diet and physical activity might help. You also need to control your weight (increase or lose weight as directed by a doctor).
Sometimes unbalanced hormones are the cause of a woman not ovulating. In this case, your doctor may prescribe fertility drugs. These drugs are designed to combat a woman's fertility problems. There are drugs designed to ripen follicles, increase estrogen, and help the ovaries release eggs. The doctor will determine the most appropriate for your condition.
