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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffAmenorrhea is the absence of menstruation — one or more missed menstrual periods. Primary amenorrhea refers to no menstrual periods by age 16. Secondary amenorrhea occurs when you were previously menstruating, but then stopped having periods. If you're sexually active and otherwise healthy, pregnancy is the most likely reason you've missed a period.
Besides pregnancy, there are many other possible explanations for amenorrhea. A sign, not a disease, amenorrhea seldom results from a serious condition. However, not knowing why menstruation has stopped can be stressful, and the time spent waiting for it to recur may feel like a lifetime. But once you and your doctor get to the root of the problem, treatment of the underlying condition often resolves amenorrhea.
Symptoms- Welt CK, et al. Etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of secondary amenorrhea. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Lobo RA. Primary and secondary amenorrhea and precocious puberty: Etiology, diagnostic evaluation, management. In: Katz VL, et al. Comprehensive Gynecology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/128045551-2/0/1524/252.html?tocnode=53759937&fromURL=252.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-02951-3..50041-8_1217. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Cohen DP. Amenorrhea. In: Gibbs RS, et al. Danforth's Obstetrics and Gynecology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008:648.
- Welt CK, et al. Etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of primary amenorrhea. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Master-Hunter T, et al. Amenorrhea: Evaluation and treatment. American Family Physician. 2006;73:1374.
- Goldberg AB, et al. Injectable contraceptives. In: Hatcher RA, et al. Contraceptive Technology. 19th ed. New York, N.Y.: Ardent Media; 2007:157.
- Kennedy KI, et al. Postpartum contraception and lactation. In: Hatcher RA, et al. Contraceptive Technology. 19th ed. New York, N.Y.: Ardent Media; 2007:403.
