COVID-19 Pandemic Stress and Ovulation

This article by medical journalist Michael Monostra discusses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on ovulation. It is geared towards physicians and healthcare providers.

The article sums up the Menstruation Ovulation Study 2 (MOS2), conducted in 2020 and 2021 by Jerilynn C. Prior, MD, FRCPC. Like the earlier MOS1 study, MOS2 investigated subclinical ovulatory disturbances; these are disruptions in the ovulation process in which the egg is not released, or the luteal phase is less than ten days long. Prior and her colleagues found that 63 percent of women experienced subclinical ovulatory disturbances compared to only 10 percent of women in 2006-2008.

The difference may be a result of lower progesterone levels caused by stress during the pandemic. When prolonged, such disturbances can contribute to osteoporosis, early myocardial infarction, breast and endometrial cancers. However, such disturbances are reversible.

Stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increase in subclinical ovulatory disturbances among women without a change in menstrual cycle length, according to a speaker at ENDO 2022.

SOURCE: Healio: Endocrine Today • AUTHOR: Michael Monostra • LAST UPDATED: June 14, 2022