My Period Is 4 Months Late But I'm Not Pregnant! (By A. Warrington)

As us females approach adolescence, we inevitably get “the talk”. You know the one about safe sex, body development, etc. Additionally, females receive the talk about their menstrual cycle.

When I was in high school, a group called “Girl Talk” came to the school to talk about what a period is, why we have periods, etc. They said what most of us already knew: Every month an egg is released, if the egg is not fertilized, the lining sheds, and menstruation begins. A period typically arrives every 28 days; however it may arrive a few days earlier or later – or so I thought.

Fast forward to two years later, my best friend and I were talking, and she started telling me that she hasn’t had her period in almost five months now and she isn’t sexually active. She generally doesn’t eat much, yet she exercises strenuously. She started to panic because based on her knowledge; she knows that a menstrual cycle can be irregular, but not that irregular!

 First of all, many factors can affect a menstrual cycle. In this case, my friend has a condition known as Hypothalamic Amenorrhea. This is when menstruation stops for several months due to a problem involving the hypothalamus. Symptoms include emotional stress, low body weight, strenuous exercise, low intake of calories, or some medical illness.

The endocrine system plays a role in this irregularity. It is a control system that interacts with the nervous system to produce hormones. Hormones are chemical messengers that travel through the blood. One of the endocrine glands, the pituitary gland, secretes two hormones from its adenohypophysis: the Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and the Luteinizing Hormone (LH). They are collectively referred to as gonadotropins. In females, LH and FSH work together to cause the maturation of an ovarian follicle. FSH stimulates the ovarian follicle and starts to produce estrogen, and LH ruptures the follicle which stimulates progesterone production. The Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) produced by the hypothalamus prompts gonadotropin release.

In hypothalamic amenorrhea, the hypothalamus isn’t secreting GnRH as habitually as it should. No GnRH means inadequate amounts of FSH and LH which result in lack of estrogen and progesterone production, and the inability for the production of the egg to take place. Low amounts of progesterone and estrogen result in irregular menstruation. This can elevate to infertility.

Moreover, it is important to speak to a doctor about ways to regulate your menstrual cycle. Hormonal pills such as birth control pills contain the synthetic hormones, estrogen and progestin. These synthetic hormones help regulate the hormones in your body, and therefore regulate your menstrual cycle. Stressing less and eating more are also options.

All in all, irregular periods are common. If you want to 

regulate it, the pill is the best option. Other than that, don’t forget to walk with a pad or tampon wherever you go because you never know when Aunt Flo might come to visit!

Sugar! Sugar! Where art thou Sugar?? (by T. Christian)

In a group lunch setting I was in recently, I noticed a gentleman removing all the plantain slices from his plate. That's odd I thought...I mean who doesn't like plantains?

He proceeded to do some swaps with the lady next to him, his plantain for her dasheen slices. Somehow, the reason behind his need to swap became a topic of discussion at the table. He announced that his fasting blood glucose level, which he had tested the day before apparently, was near 300 mg/dL! This is diabetes high.

His removal of the plantains from his plate therefore, and replacement with the dasheen, was to attempt to curb this high blood glucose. It all made perfect sense to him...take out the sweet stuff and abracadabra, the sugar is gone!

Not quite!

Although there are minor variations in schools of thought on what the fasting blood glucose of a non-diabetic should be, the general consensus is that it should be below 110 mg/dL. Glucose is a simple sugar, a monasaccharide, which is the building block for complex carbohydrates such as starch. Glucose is important to us because we use it as our respiratory substrate, and hence is responsible for providing us with energy to carry out our daily functions.

However, someone with impaired glucose metabolism, that is a diabetic, is unable to utilize the glucose which may be present in the blood, causing the levels of it in the blood to be higher than normal.

The hormone insulin is the culprit...either an inability to produce it (Type 1 diabetes) or general resistance to it and/or reduction in its production (Type 2 diabetes). If insulin is functional and present in sufficient quantities, then it shuttles the glucose into our cells making it available for use as the respiratory substrate. Without this hormonal shuttle, the glucose remains in the blood stream, creating interesting pathological results over long periods of time such as loss of nerve function and glaucoma.

But back to the plantains! Why was the gentleman making a sad mistake? Glucose, "sugar" as we call it, doesn't only show up in sweet foods. Starchy foods are essentially just glucose waiting to be broken down by our very capable digestive enzymes. So the dasheen slices and the plantain slices...and I forgot to mention the whole heap of rice which was also in the plate, would have the same effect in further elevating his already elevated blood glucose.

So the next time you're eating, and trying to be moderate in your sugar intake...don't trust your taste buds to identify tricky old glucose. It's hidden in those carbohydrate rich foods. Don't be fooled. It doesn't have to taste sweet to raise your "sugar."