Endocrine dysfunction of the ovaries

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Endocrine dysfunction of the ovaries relates to the secretion and production of oocytes and hormones. The ovaries are a paired glandular organ located in the small pelvis. Their hormonal activity determines the gender and female personality, and together with the hormonal activity of the pituitary gland, the women’s menstrual cycle.

What are the ovaries?

The ovaries are paired glandular organ, located in the small pelvis. Their hormonal activity determines the gender and female personality, and together with the hormonal activity of the pituitary gland, the women’s menstrual cycle.

The ovaries, like the testes and the pancreas, are characterized by a mixed secretory activity:

1. external secretion – production and secretion of oocytes,
2. internal secretion – hormonal tendency

There is a certain dependence and interaction between these activities. Ovarian follicles (Graafa) (in which the egg cells mature) secrete the so-called follicular hormone, i.e. estrogen. On the other hand, the ovarian follicle, after the excretion of the egg, turns into a corpus luteum, producing a second ovarian hormone called progesterone.

Estrogen – is responsible for the primary and secondary development of female sexual characteristics and maintaining the efficiency of female sexual activities. In addition, it affects the uterine mucosa, preparing it for the possible reception of a fertilized egg. Estrogen also has a certain influence on the metabolism, the condition of blood vessels and the shaping of the female psyche.

Progesterone – causes further enlargement of the mammary glands (for possible feeding) and the uterine mucosa (for possible implantation of a fertilized egg).

Among the disorders of the ovarian endocrine function, we can distinguish:

1. no secretion of hormones by the ovaries,
2. hormonal insufficiency of the ovaries,
3. hormonal overactivity of the ovaries.

Endocrine dysfunction of the ovaries – types

1. Hormonal insufficiency of the ovaries

Hormonal failure of the ovaries can include:

1. follicle hormone deficiency, or estrogen;
2. deficiency of the corpus luteum hormone progesterone.

Estrogen deficiency is characterized by underdevelopment of the female genitalia and symptoms similar to those following castration or menopause. Often there are various vascular and joint diseases and degenerative changes in the skin.

In turn, insufficient progesterone secretion determines menstrual disorders, sometimes infertility, and very often habitual miscarriages.

Climacterium

A special form of ovarian endocrine dysfunction are symptoms of the menopause (menopause) caused by the natural loss of hormonal activity of the ovaries. Then the observed are variously intensified and hence troublesome “flushes” of the blood to the head, periodic feeling of heat, weakness, shortness of breath, headaches and dizziness, etc. It should be noted that these symptoms are completely normal, they are not a disease state and only to a very large extent. troublesome cases require medical attention.

It is also worth mentioning that, according to endocrinologists specializing in hormonal disorders in the climacteric period, the above-mentioned and other subjectively felt and objectively identified symptoms related to menopause may appear to a greater or lesser degree in the period of 6 years before the cessation of menstruation up to 6 years after the last menstruation. Thus, the period of menopause in women (and related ailments) may last about 12 years. Note: In women with high reactivity and vegetative and psychophysical lability, the symptoms of the menopause occur and are felt to a greater extent than in other women.

How to recognize an ovarian insufficiency?

The diagnosis of ovarian hormonal insufficiency is based on:

1. the entirety of clinical data,
2. analyzing a woman’s monthly cycle,
3. vaginal smear cytological examination,
4. testing the concentration of hormones in body fluids.

Treatment of hormonal insufficiency of the ovaries

Treatment of ovarian hormonal insufficiency involves the use of appropriately selected, alternative pharmacological agents.

It should also be emphasized that in women whose first menstruation was relatively late, and therefore who survived puberty later, the last menstruation, and therefore menstruation symptoms, usually appear much earlier. So the overall period of such a woman is much shorter than that of women with a late first period.

Distressing symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes, facial flushing, shortness of breath, headaches or excessive nervous excitability, can be additionally alleviated and eliminated:

1. by wearing light and airy clothing,
2. spending a lot in the open air or in climatic and spa centers,
3. using mild sedatives,
4. by frequent baths (hygienic, mineral, radon, swimming) and cooling down with cold water, and in the postmenopausal period (after the last menstruation) also by mud baths.

2. Hormonal overactivity of the ovaries

Hormonal overactivity of the ovaries may include:

1. high secretion of follicle hormone,
2. increased secretion of the corpus luteum hormone.

A high concentration of follicular hormone occurs most often in the case of excessive, hormonally active growth of the ovarian follicle. It is characterized by the growth of the female reproductive organ above the norm, accompanied by:

1. unexpected, excessive and prolonged uterine bleeding (usually occurring after prolonged periods without menstruation),
2. pain in the lower abdomen,
3. excessive sexual excitability,
4. spastic cramps in the digestive tract.

An excess of the corpus luteum hormone is quite rare, most often occurring as a result of a corpus luteum cyst. It is characterized by an image the so-called alleged pregnancy (there is no menstruation, but there is enlargement of the uterus and mammary glands), or uterine hemorrhages preceded by amenorrhoeic periods.

Both conditions should be diagnosed and treated in specialized endocrinology departments.

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