Contents:
- Medical Video: 7 Things Your Period Blood Color Reveals About Your Health
- Research: menstrual cycle during irregular chemotherapy due to drugs
- Why does the menstrual cycle become chemically irregular?
- Age can be a factor in menstruation after chemotherapy falls apart
Medical Video: 7 Things Your Period Blood Color Reveals About Your Health
Until now chemotherapy is a reliable way to treat cancer. But this cancer treatment can cause several negative effects on the body, such as blackened skin, hair loss, and weight loss. One of the common side effects in women is a change in the menstrual cycle after chemotherapy and when the treatment is taking place. Then is that normal and will it return to normal?
Research: menstrual cycle during irregular chemotherapy due to drugs
Chemotherapy is a treatment that is usually recommended in cancer patients. This procedure is done by killing cancer cells that grow quickly. Even so, chemotherapy can disrupt a woman's menstrual cycle. This has been proven in studies showing that as many as 44 of 66 women who were on chemotherapy due to breast cancer did not experience menstruation regularly.
An abnormal menstrual cycle is characterized by a change in the cycle, time, or duration of different periods of menstruation compared to normal. In the study it was known that a year after chemotherapy, 36 women experienced abnormal menstrual cycles and 20 people experienced no menstruation (amenorrhea) for three consecutive months, even more.
Most chemotherapy drugs can interfere with the reproductive system of women but in this study drugs proven to cause menstruation during irregular chemotherapy are methotrexate and doxorubicin. Some evidence suggests that higher chemotherapy doses can be associated with menstrual problems in women. However, Elsye E. Lower MD, an oncologist in the United States, stated that this study could not confirm clearly whether this was the only factor influencing changes in the menstrual cycle after chemotherapy and when treatment was underway.
Why does the menstrual cycle become chemically irregular?
Chemotherapy is indeed one of the effective treatments for cancer. Unfortunately, this procedure can damage several eggs in your ovary and can cause the menstrual cycle to become irregular or stop altogether. So it is very normal if the menstrual cycle when and after chemotherapy becomes messy. This depends also on the dosage and type of drug given during chemotherapy.
Experts say when a woman does not experience menstruation for a full year, this is usually the first sign that her menstrual cycle will end. If your period when chemotherapy becomes irregular or even stops completely after treatment, you should immediately see a doctor. Usually this condition will be treated by doing hormone therapy.
Irregular menstruation can interfere with women's health in general. The reason, experts say that women have a higher risk of heart disease and osteoporosis associated with early symptoms of menopause.
Age can be a factor in menstruation after chemotherapy falls apart
Usually, the menstrual cycle after chemotherapy will return to normal after you release it from treatment. But there are other factors that influence whether you will menstruate again or not after treatment. The age factor determines this. When viewed from age, the menstrual cycle after chemotherapy will be like this:
- Women under the age of 40 are usually more likely to experience temporary menstrual disorders. That is, the menstrual cycle will return regularly several months or several years after chemotherapy ends.
- Women over the age of 40 usually experience more permanent menstrual disorders. In fact, you can experience premature menopause compared to other women.
Premenopausal women (still not menopause) usually still have the possibility of remaining fertile because the menstrual cycle will usually return. However, women whose age is nearing menopause usually lose their fertility due to the menstrual cycle, most of which stop.
