Preventing heavy red days
Symptoms and cures for intense menstrual bleeding
By Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman
Published: May 14, 2013
"Consume a lot of soft drinks so that you’ll bleed more.” Women who are experiencing their menstruation have always been told this. The traditional folks believe that the more blood a woman loses during her menstruation period, the better, but some of the modern doctors and medical practitioners suggest that the idea is passé and seemingly illogical.
“There is a myth surrounding Filipino women that menstrual blood makes up a lot of dirty blood, so the more blood you lose the better. On the contrary, you are discharging your own blood that could very likely lead to anemia (if you lose a lot of blood).They don’t recognize that there could be a problem rather they think it’s healthy,” explained Dr. Anita Nelson of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in California.
Owing to this thinking, many women may fail to identify that they could be suffering from menorrhagia or heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), which is a common condition when women experience excessive menstrual blood loss of 80 milliliters and above. On average, a woman loses 35 mL of blood or less than three tablespoon (one tablespoon is approximately 15 mL).
Dr. Nelson said that the universal standard number of menstruation days a woman should experience is eight or less. It is considered abnormal when a woman experiences a drastic and significant blood-discharge change compared to her previous menstruation cycles.
She added that one out of three women is suffering from HMB. The recent studies estimated that up to half (52%) of women experience heavy menstrual bleeding at some point in their lives. The study conducted by Nielsen in Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia suggest that 12 million women have HMB but the incidence in the other Asian nations remains unclear as of today.
The easily recognized symptoms of HMB include:
• soaking through one or more sanitary pads or tampons per hour
• needing to use double sanitary napkins to control menstrual flow
• bleeding a week or longer
• passing large blood clots with menstrual flow
• experiencing tiredness, fatigue or breath shortness, and
• waking up to change sanitary napkins during the night
There are various reasons why women may suffer from menorrhagia. The hormonal imbalance during adolescence and menopause is the most common cause of HMB. The hormone levels fluctuate during this time, which often leads to excessive uterine bleeding. Girls aged 12 and 13 and women aged 35 to 45 are often prone to HMB.
But Nelson explained that “there are no specific type of women who can have this condition, anyone can experience HMB in any point of a woman’s life. But owing to the hormone fluctuation of the adolescent girls and the mature women, they experience it the most. And also those who have thyroid gland problems can have HMB,” she said.
The dysfunction of ovaries, cancer, uterine fibroids, and polyps are also some of the causes of menorrhagia. Uterine fibroids are noncancerous tumors of the uterus that appear during the childbearing years of women. Meanwhile, polyps are small and benign growths on the uterus wall lining due to high hormone levels.
Hysterectomy or the removal of uterus is one of the treatment options for HMB sufferers. Fifty seven percent of the women worldwide have gone hysterectomy to get rid of the hassles and health issues of menorrhagia. However, the removal of one’s uterus renders the incapability to bear children and this may post surgical risks and long-term effects.
Just last year, the Philippines approved the consumption of Estradiol valerate/Dienogest, the first oral contraceptive that is clinically proven to treat HMB sans the removal of one’s uterus. This oral hormonal therapy is a non-invasive treatment that reduces menstrual bleeding by 88 percent after six months of use while improving the hemoglobin and ferritin (the major protein on iron storage) levels of women in HMB. Estradiol is the same estrogen that is naturally produced in the female body, which suppresses the monthly formation of the uterus lining (or menstruation).
The market has now readily available pills for HMB patients through Bayer’s Qlaira, which contains the novel combination of hormones estradiol valerate and dienogest.
“There is a myth surrounding Filipino women that menstrual blood makes up a lot of dirty blood, so the more blood you lose the better. On the contrary, you are discharging your own blood that could very likely lead to anemia (if you lose a lot of blood).They don’t recognize that there could be a problem rather they think it’s healthy,” explained Dr. Anita Nelson of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in California.
Owing to this thinking, many women may fail to identify that they could be suffering from menorrhagia or heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), which is a common condition when women experience excessive menstrual blood loss of 80 milliliters and above. On average, a woman loses 35 mL of blood or less than three tablespoon (one tablespoon is approximately 15 mL).
Dr. Nelson said that the universal standard number of menstruation days a woman should experience is eight or less. It is considered abnormal when a woman experiences a drastic and significant blood-discharge change compared to her previous menstruation cycles.
She added that one out of three women is suffering from HMB. The recent studies estimated that up to half (52%) of women experience heavy menstrual bleeding at some point in their lives. The study conducted by Nielsen in Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia suggest that 12 million women have HMB but the incidence in the other Asian nations remains unclear as of today.
The easily recognized symptoms of HMB include:
• soaking through one or more sanitary pads or tampons per hour
• needing to use double sanitary napkins to control menstrual flow
• bleeding a week or longer
• passing large blood clots with menstrual flow
• experiencing tiredness, fatigue or breath shortness, and
• waking up to change sanitary napkins during the night
There are various reasons why women may suffer from menorrhagia. The hormonal imbalance during adolescence and menopause is the most common cause of HMB. The hormone levels fluctuate during this time, which often leads to excessive uterine bleeding. Girls aged 12 and 13 and women aged 35 to 45 are often prone to HMB.
But Nelson explained that “there are no specific type of women who can have this condition, anyone can experience HMB in any point of a woman’s life. But owing to the hormone fluctuation of the adolescent girls and the mature women, they experience it the most. And also those who have thyroid gland problems can have HMB,” she said.
The dysfunction of ovaries, cancer, uterine fibroids, and polyps are also some of the causes of menorrhagia. Uterine fibroids are noncancerous tumors of the uterus that appear during the childbearing years of women. Meanwhile, polyps are small and benign growths on the uterus wall lining due to high hormone levels.
Hysterectomy or the removal of uterus is one of the treatment options for HMB sufferers. Fifty seven percent of the women worldwide have gone hysterectomy to get rid of the hassles and health issues of menorrhagia. However, the removal of one’s uterus renders the incapability to bear children and this may post surgical risks and long-term effects.
Just last year, the Philippines approved the consumption of Estradiol valerate/Dienogest, the first oral contraceptive that is clinically proven to treat HMB sans the removal of one’s uterus. This oral hormonal therapy is a non-invasive treatment that reduces menstrual bleeding by 88 percent after six months of use while improving the hemoglobin and ferritin (the major protein on iron storage) levels of women in HMB. Estradiol is the same estrogen that is naturally produced in the female body, which suppresses the monthly formation of the uterus lining (or menstruation).
The market has now readily available pills for HMB patients through Bayer’s Qlaira, which contains the novel combination of hormones estradiol valerate and dienogest.
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