ISSN:
1471-0528
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Serial assays of urinary FSH, LH, oestrogens and pregnanediol have been performed in 12 subjects approaching the menopause. Six of these women, designated premenopausal, were symptom free, while in the remainder, designated perimenopausal, symptoms of the menopause were present.LH levels were some seven times higher in women approaching the menopause than in normal young women studied early in reproductive life. The corresponding elevation in FSH output was only three-fold, and the mean FSH/LH ratios in the premenopausal and perimenopausal groups were 0.43 and 0.29 respectively.Excretion values for oestrogens and pregnanediol tended to be lower in women approaching the menopause than in younger subjects, and in only 3 out of the 12 patients was there definite evidence on the basis of steroid assays that ovulation had occurred.In both the pre- and perimenopausal subjects high urinary LH levels could co-exist with oestrogen readings which were within or at the upper end of the normal range, suggesting that at this time of life the feed back mechanisms operating between the pituitary and the ovary are disturbed.The data reported herein emphasize the differences which occur in endocrine function in late as opposed to early reproductive life.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.1971.tb00192.x
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