Open AccessWeight Loss in Secondary Amenorrhea: A Gynaecologic, Endocrinologic and Psychiatric Investigation of 54 Consecutive Clinic Cases
Author(s) -
Holmberg NilsGunnar,
Nylander Ingvar
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
acta obstetricia et gynecologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1600-0412
pISSN - 0001-6349
DOI - 10.3109/00016347109157318
Subject(s) - medicine , amenorrhea , anorexia nervosa , psychogenic disease , pediatrics , gynecology , endocrine system , weight loss , anorexia , obstetrics , psychiatry , obesity , eating disorders , pregnancy , hormone , genetics , biology
Fifty‐four consecutive cases of secondary amenorrhea seen in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Umeå University Hospital were systematically studied from the somatic, endocrinologic and psychiatric points of view. The study showed that 51 patients had lost weight at or about the time of onset of amenorrhea and that 41 of these had symptoms characteristic of anorexia nervosa; some were cachectic. In none of these cases was there any reason to suspect a primary endocrine disturbance. On the other hand, two of the patients who had not lost weight, had significantIy elevated urinary 17‐ketosteroids in both total and fractional analysis. The connection between starvation, psychogenic amenorrhea and anorexia nervosa is discussed.