+ DOCTOR’S ORDERS

PREMATURE OVARIAN INSUFFICIENCY

Premature ovarian insufficiency is the medical term for early menopause, which occurs under the age of 40. It isn’t uncommon – about one in 100 women will go through the menopause under the age of 40, and it often runs in families.

There are lots of reasons why it may happen, from having your ovaries removed surgically (perhaps from cancer surgery), to having an autoimmune condition (where the body’s immune system attacks itself in error), after a particular infection (such as mumps), or after puberty, tuberculosis or malaria. In some cases, no cause is identified.

If you don’t have a period for six months (and aren’t pregnant), or even if you do have periods but have symptoms of the perimenopause, then see your GP. Blood tests are not used in the diagnosis of the perimenopause and menopause in people over the age of 45, but are used in younger people.

If diagnosed, you will be offered hormone replacement therapy (HRT). There are no increased risks of taking HRT under the age of 50/51 for premature menopause. You are replacing the hormones, which would otherwise normally be there, and by doing so, decrease your risk of conditions, such as osteoporosis.

Depending on whether or not you still have your ovaries, there is still a risk of pregnancy, as the ovaries can start working again

– one in 10 women with premature ovarian insufficiency become pregnant as the ovaries sporadically work. This means that you will also need to consider contraception

– in this situation, the combined oral contraceptive pill can work both as contraception and HRT.