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Irregular menstrual cycles and greater variability in menstrual bleeding both occur during the years just before menopause, but how they are linked? To investigate this interaction, Australian investigators measured menstrual blood loss (by extracting hemoglobin from pads and tampons) during two sequential menstrual periods and assessed serum levels of reproductive hormones three times weekly during the intervening menstrual cycle in 77 healthy women (age range, 21–55).
Median menstrual blood loss after all ovulatory cycles was 30 mL during the mid-reproductive years, 56 mL during the early-menopausal transition, and 69 mL during the late-menopausal transition. After anovulatory cycles during the late-menopausal transition, menstrual blood l…