It is common for females who are first starting puberty or approaching menopause to have abnormal bleeding or spotting. In addition, women who have relatively normal cycles may experience an abnormal period from time to time, due to stress or...
Menstrual cycles cease during pregnancy. After a woman gives birth, menstrual cycles may not occur at the same interval or last the same amount of time as they did before pregnancy. Some women also experience a change in menstrual flow, with...
Abnormal periods can be a cause for alarm especially if it is not yet time for your menstruation. Abnormal periods can be classified as bleeding heavily, bleeding in between periods or not at all. Sometimes, an underlying medical disease causes...
Abnormal menstrual cycles can occur at any point in a woman's reproductive years. These periods of abnormality can occur for any reason, from stress to influenza. However, some events that happen in a woman's life, such as childbirth, can cause...
Most women will experience abnormal bleeding at some point in their reproductive years. Often times, this bleeding is of no significance and will usually go away after a few days. However, in some cases abnormal bleeding may signify a medical...
Although most women have come to know menstruation as a once-a-month cycle, other women experience it more than once a month or bleeding for a long period of time. Several factors play a part in causing abnormal menstrual bleeding, however,...
The menstrual cycle is between 25 to 36 days, with three to seven days of bleeding, according to Merck. Menstrual bleeding can be light, medium or heavy and should never be heavy enough to soak a pad every hour or contain blood clots larger than a...
During a girl's first menstrual period, the bleeding may be irregular or abnormal. This is common, and usually the bleeding lasts for a varying number of days. Although bleeding during the first period is not the textbook "three to seven days," it...
Abnormal bleeding between periods can occur at any point in a woman's reproductive years. This bleeding can be caused by abnormalities in the uterus, ovaries, vagina and brain. Many of these abnormalities are caused by hormonal imbalances or may...
Light bleeding that occurs between menstrual periods is called spotting. Spotting can be pink, red or brown and may last for a few days. Spotting has many causes and should never be self-diagnosed. Spotting can also occur during pregnancy and in...
Clots in appearing in a woman's period blood in most cases is no reason for alarm. A woman's body is constantly going through changes, and these changes may cause the menstrual cycle to change along with it. However abnormally large blood clots or...
According to the National Institutes of Health, any variation to a normal menstrual cycle is considered an irregular period, or oligomenorrhea. NIH defines a normal period as lasting four days in a 24 to 34 day cycle; however, the length of the...
Most women have an abnormal period at some point in their reproductive years. This may only last for one cycle and for others it may go on for a few. Women with conditions that make it more likely for their menstrual cycles to be abnormal may be...
When you participate in vigorous forms of exercise, menstruation can stop or become irregular. High-intensity forms of exercise can reduce your hormone levels and stop your period. If you are concerned about not getting your period on a normal...
Up to 40 percent of female athletes have late or absent periods, which is considerably higher than women in the general population in which 2 to 3 percent have absent periods and 10 to 12 percent have abnormal periods, reports Jack H. Wilmore and...
In the days leading up to your period, you may experience the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome or PMS. Symptoms may include backache, fatigue and cramping. To feel good throughout your period, continue your exercise routine. If discomfort...
When you eat carbohydrates, your body breaks them down into sugars and delivers the sugar to cells in your body for energy. If you have insulin resistance, this process is disrupted. The result is that consuming a carbohydrate-containing food --...
Most women who have menstrual cycles will experience abnormal bleeding and blood clots at some point before menopause. While many causes of abnormal menstrual bleeding and blood clots are relatively harmless, all instances of continuous bleeding...
If you are wondering whether exercise will decrease the length of your period, the short answer is yes. The long answer, however, depends on a number of factors. How regularly you work out, the type of exercise you get and the underlying cause of...
Missing a period or experiencing an abnormal menstrual cycle happens once in a while with every woman, but when irregularity becomes the norm, it is time to take notice. While contributing causes for irregularities in your period could vary...
A "regular" menstrual cycle varies from woman to woman and lasts as long as 24 to 35 days, with a period lasting anywhere between 4 to 7 days. Once the normal baseline has become established, she can then determine that her period is irregular...
When you exercise excessively, you put yourself at risk for abnormalities in your menstrual cycle, including interruptions in your menstrual flow and missed periods. Although you don't have to stop exercise altogether, your doctor may discuss...
When a woman becomes sexually active, or by about the age of 16, she should begin having regular annual exams with a gynecologist to protect her health. During an annual exam, a full pelvic exam, including a pap smear, is typical. Pap smears...
Polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, involves a hormonal imbalance in the female reproductive system in which women produce too many male hormones. It can cause irregular menstrual cycles, skin issues, ovarian cysts and possibly infertility....
Exercise has countless health benefits. Weight control, heart health and improvements to your emotional state may be experienced through regular exercise. If you are going through a period of time in your life when exercise is not possible, you...
Spotting is a term used to describe a light bleed that may occur before or after the menstrual cycle. Spotting can be a normal part of the menstrual cycle if experienced just before a bleed, or part of the ovulation process. However, there are...
Tenuate (diethylpropion hydrochloride) is a prescription medication used to suppress hunger sensations in patients who need to lose excess body weight. Doctors typically prescribe this medication for a short period; the effectiveness of Tenuate...
DHEA, or dehydroepiandrosterone, is a naturally occurring, or endogenous, hormone that is secreted by the adrenal gland. It is a precursor to the male and female sex hormones testosterone and estrogen, respectively. It is available as a supplement...
Ovarian cancer is difficult to detect before it reaches advanced stages. Its symptoms are often confused with weight gain or bloating. Since ovarian cancer can progress quickly, however, it is crucial to seek medical attention for any symptom that...
A pap smear is a gynecological test designed to detect premalignant and malignant processes in the cervix and uterus. Get tips and advice on preventing, diagnosing, and treating cervical and uterine cancer in this medical video.
Infertility, the inability to contribute to conception, can result from any number of causes. Learn more about infertility in this reproductive health video.