Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogelbaum Here to the uninformed, a missed period can only mean one thing, You're pregnant, But in reality, there are numerous reasons why your period might be late or missing. Altogether, the menstrual cycle is closely tied to your overall well being. Every Body is different, so every cycle works a little differently.
The typical cycle is twenty eight days long, with three to five days of period bleeding, but anything from a cycle of twenty one to thirty five days is considered normal. And your period might be a couple days longer, shorter, and again that's just normal variation. And no, it's not literally tied to the cycle of the moon. We're not wear wolves, or at least not most of us. But if your body is out of balance, that can affect the timing of your period or prevent it entirely. The
medical term for absent menstruation is amenorrhea. Primary emenoriea refers to late onset of menstruation or not having started menstruation by the age of sixteen. However, the condition is quite rare, affecting less than one percent of the population. By the way, it's also very common for people to miss periods during the first couple years that they start menstruating because their bodies haven't settled into a normal cycle yet. A secondary
amenoriea is more what we're talking about today. It's when you've begun menstruating but later stop four to three or more cycles. This affects about four percent of the population and can be caused by a host of factors, though most involve heightened stress, whether physical, mental, or emotional. That's because stress can prevent your body from ovulating, that is, releasing an egg, which is the precur search to menstruation and occurs about fourteen to sixteen days before most periods.
A stress is a silent menace. It's the primary cause of lots of physical ailments. Emotional stress is a particularly common cause of late or misted periods in teenagers and can affect adults as well. That's because emotional or mental anxiety can negatively affect the hypothalamus, which is the part of the brain that regulates hormones. It controls the creation of the gnatotropin releasing hormone, which in turn signals the pituitary gland to secrete the hormones that cause both ovulation
and menstruation. So if your hypothalamus is impaired by stress, there's a distinct possibility that your system won't release an EG and won't build up your uterine lining, so there will be nothing for you to menstruate, meaning you'll miss your period. A stress can include factors like travel and other changes to your daily routine like getting a new job. Anything that disrupts your usual sleeping and eating schedules can
potentially affect your period. Obviously, some stress is normal, that's life, but being mindful of how it affects you personally that, since everyone processes stress differently, is the key to getting a handle on it. If you miss periods but they return once some anxious situation passes, make a note of it,
then look into ways to manage your stress. Obviously, this is a personal and complicated matter, and you might want to talk with the healthcare professional about it, but common solutions include exercise in general, breath focused exercise like yoga in particular, meditation, mindfulness practices, talk therapy or psychiatric medications. And Okay, I know I just said that exercise is good,
but there is such thing as too much exercise. The physical stress that you put your body under during particular long or intense exercise sessions can cause your body to sort of reallocate resources to prevent injury, sort of like on Star Trek when they divert power to the shields.
After all, your period isn't technically a necessary function. As many as forty four percent of women and other people who menstruate who exercise vigorously experience a man a rhea compared with just two to five percent of the whole population. This also ties into body weight and for professional athletes, emotional stress. Speaking of body weight in general, medical professionals can overemphasize body weight alone as a cause of physical ailments.
Everyone has their own healthy weight, but whatever healthy looks like for you, if you're severely under or over that weight, it can place stress on your organs, which can delay or prevent menstruation. In most cases, a gradual weight gain or weight loss will allow the return of a normal cycle. It's critical to avoid doing that rapidly, as that can place further strain on your body. This is definitely a good reason to consult with the healthcare professional to discuss
your particular needs. They can help you avoid fad diets in favor of a variety and balance of foods that's right for you. In some cases, elate or missed periods can also be the result of more complicated or serious medical conditions. These can include everything from polycystic ovarian syndrome, thyroid disease, petuitary disease, a peituitary tumor sexually transmitted infections, other infections, or even diabetes, liver ailments, or irritable bowel syndrome.
So if you've ruled out everything else or are experiencing other symptoms, definitely talk to a health care provider. Just remember that there are lots of normal things, like some methods of birth control, other medications like into depressants and perimenopause that can mess with your cycle, And of course you might actually be pregnant, but a quick, cheap home
pregnancy test can rule that one out. Today's episode is based on the article five common reasons for a late period on how stuffworks dot Com, written by Brion O'Connor. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.