There are hundreds of people who falsely believe that as long as a woman is able to menstruate, she can get pregnant. But there are times when, despite there being bleeding every month, pregnancy does not occur. It is what we know as anovulation and we have asked Dr. Begoña Martínez, director of IVI Pamplona, to talk to us about this disorder.
What is anovulation?
Anovulation is a disorder diagnosed in 3-4% of women, when they encounter problems achieving pregnancy. And it is that menstruation and ovulation are different processes, but they are synchronized. Specifically, these are related at different times of the cycle, uterine and ovarian, coexisting, although they do not depend on each other.
When does anovulation take place?
This occurs when a woman’s ovaries are unable to release an egg at any time during the menstrual cycle. Therefore, given the lack of oocytes, fertilization cannot take place and, therefore, no embryo is generated.
Up to 35% of women have infertility problems, and anovulation may be one of the causes. The origin may be in a chronic disease or it may be the result of something circumstantial, such as a time of stress or low weight in women. Depending on the cause of the anovulation, the specialist must proceed in one way or another, but always personalized.
Symptoms of anovulation
The main symptoms that women with this disorder present are very irregular periods or the absence of them. Also having cycles of more than 35 days, not suffering from changes in cervical mucus or excessive uterine bleeding. Finally, infertility is also a symptom, and it is also the one that allows most diagnoses.
In order to diagnose anovulation in a woman, it is necessary to perform a physical examination and a thorough medical history. In addition, both analytics and ultrasounds must be carried out, in different phases of the cycle. This will allow you to check if the changes that should occur take place.
How to treat anovulation
To solve it, the first thing to do is to normalize the weight, reducing excessive sports practice. In addition to correcting the dysfunction of other organs, such as kidneys, liver or thyroid.
Although it is true that sometimes it is not possible to identify what causes the disorder and, therefore, a solution to anovulation cannot be solved. In these cases, assisted reproduction treatments can be used, with the aim of achieving pregnancy. Depending on the results of the tests, how complex the case is and the clinical history of both the patient and her partner, the most appropriate reproductive medicine technique will be recommended. These are treatments that, fortunately, are available and allow more and more women to fulfill their dreams of being mothers.
Normally, these treatments are usually ovulation induction, which is also recommended for women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Another option is artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization. On the other hand, in cases of ovarian failure there is always the option of becoming a mother with oocyte donation treatments.
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