The diagnosis and treatment of amenorrheas

Job stress and health in working women

A questionnaire assessing subjective level of job stress and physical health over the past two years was completed by 173 women in university (non-faculty) positions. Health was divided into two categories: menstrual dysfunction and other non-menstrual symptoms. Two samples, matched for age, were selected: women in high-paying positions (N = 72) and women in low-paying positions (N = 101). Respondents also answered a Recent Life Changes Questionnaire (RLCQ) and an eight-item life satisfaction list. The hypothesis of a positive relationship between job stress and menstrual dysfunction was rejected. The predicted relationship held for non-menstrual symptoms. Subjective stress, RLCQ score, and life satisfaction accounted for 21% of the variance in non-menstrual symptoms. Thus, while both RLCQ and subjective job stress were related to symptom reports, their contributions were independent of one another. The female reproductive system does not seem particularly vulnerable to the levels of stress experienced in professional, managerial, and clerical occupations.

The effect of acutely elevated blood glucose levels on luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone release following an intravenous gonadotropin-releasing hormone injection

The effects of an acute blood glucose increase on the capacity of the pituitary gland to release gonadotropins (luteinzing hormone [LH] and follicle-stimulating hormone [FSH]) were studied in 21 women. Each woman received two intravenous challenges of 100 microgram of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GNRH). Between these injections the blood glucose level was increased in 10 of the women by orally adminstering 100 gm of glucose. Although there were significantly higher blood glucose and plasma insulin levels in the latter group, the LH and FSH response to the second GNRH injection was not different. There was also no significant relationship between the basal blood glucose level and the gonadotropin (LH and FSH) response to GNRH. Acute elevations of blood glucose do not appear to alter the ability of the anterior pituitary cells to release gonadotropins.