NICHD
National Institute
of Child Health and
Human Development National Institute of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Public Health Service
(August 2003)
| | Fast Facts: | | Common name: | Premature Ovarian Failure or POF | | _____________________________________________________ | | Medical name: | Premature Ovarian Failure, Primary Ovarian Insufficiency | | _____________________________________________________ | | Number of women affected: | Approximately 250,000 women under the age of 40 in the United States have POF. | | _____________________________________________________ | | Common symptoms: | Absent or irregular periods, hot flashes, night sweat, irritability, poor concentration, decreased sex drive, painful sex, drying of the vagina, and infertility.
Women with POF are also more likely to develop certain conditions, including osteoporosis, Addison's disease, and low thyroid function. | | _____________________________________________________ | | Common treatments: | Doctors often prescribe hormone replacement therapy to relieve some of the symptoms of POF. Currently, there is no treatment that is proven safe and effective in restoring normal function of the ovaries or improving fertility. | | _____________________________________________________ | | Does this disorder affect fertility/childbearing? | It is difficult for women with POF to become pregnant because their ovaries are not functioning properly. But, between 5 percent and 10 percent of women with POF become pregnant without treatment. | | _____________________________________________________ |
Premature ovarian failure (POF) has baffled researchers and health care providers for decades. Scientists have yet to uncover why, in some women, normal functioning of the ovaries stops before these women naturally reach menopause, even though they seem otherwise healthy.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is trying to learn more about POF through research into its causes, its symptoms, and it's patterns. Hormones, genes, the immune system, and other factors may all play a role in POF. The NICHD hopes that its research will lead to advances in treatment for POF, so that this disorder will no longer be a factor in women's lives. |
