[Serum hormone level and Kupperman menopausal complaints in sexually mature women with disturbance of ovulation].

In 103 sexually mature women with disturbance of ovulation, a possible relationship between Kupperman menopausal complaints and endocrinological status was investigated to find the cause of climacteric syndrome. The Kupperman index was increased as the disturbance of ovulation was advanced from the stage of anovulatory cycle to amenorrhea I and further to amenorrhea II. In parallel with the advance in disturbance of ovulation, serum FSH and LH levels rose significantly, and serum estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2) levels dropped. Prolactin (PRL) showed a tendency to decrease. There were some hormonal patterns characteristic of individual complaints; hot flush was associated with increased FSH and LH, and decreased E1 and E2; difficulty in falling asleep, excitability, and fatigability, with increased FSH and LH, and decreased E2; nervousness, with increased LH and decreased E2; headache, with increased LH and PRL, and decreased E2; feeling of cold, with decreased E2 and PRL; and numbness and shoulder stiffness, with decreased E2. In sexually mature women, the complaints associated with abnormal levels of two or more kinds of hormones seemed to be most specifically related with decreased E2, followed by increased LH. Fatigability and headache developed specifically in the ovulatory phase of women with normal menstrual cycles (105 subjects), suggesting that these two complaints are closely related to increased LH. These results indicate that the majority of Kupperman menopausal complaints have their individually specific endocrinological cause, and that they may develop even in sexually mature women if those specific conditions exist. In climacteric syndrome in a narrow sense (i.e., dysautonomic type), each complaint may also have its specific endocrinological cause.