[Menorrhagia--a symptom not sufficiently surveyed. The path to diagnosis and treatment lined with ambiguity and misunderstandings]

Abstract

Approximately 10 percent of all women of fertile age suffer from menorrhagia, a symptom defined as regular heavy menstrual bleeding. Finding the cause of the symptoms can often be the key to effective treatment. Apart from anatomical causes such as myomas and adenomyosis which underlie less than half of all cases, recent studies have been pointing toward a hitherto unrecognized over-representation of mild hemostatic disorders such as von Willebrands disease and platelet dysfunction. Efforts have been made to spread information about the problem, but as with most "new" information it has been met with some skepticism. Lately though, there have been nationwide campaigns in the USA and Canada in which targeted information and instruction is aimed at lay educators as well as health care providers, informing about these circumstances. Advantages of a correct diagnosis are not only the of to choosing more efficient treatment. When a hemostatic disorder has been diagnosed there follows a reduced risk of complications in connection with surgery, trauma and delivery.