Naprotechnology for Abnormal Bleeding and PCOS in Adolescents: Vital Sign-Based Evaluation

The topic of how the menstrual cycle is a vital sign which could signal pathophysiologic process has received considerable attention in the past decade. The current recommendations of various academic groups will be discussed as well as the FertilityTMM Care method of charting and the Naprotechnology approach to evaluating abnormalities of the menstrual cycle. Two clinical scenarios seen in adolescent medicine, PCOS and AUB, will be analyzed looking at the pathophysiology of these clinical scenarios and their management. The approach will be one that conducts an evaluation to try to find the underlying problem and aims to restore the normal physiology of the menstrual cycle. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the New York Academy of Sciences have published academic statements during the past ten years emphasizing the need for providers to teach patients how to chart and the important clinical ramifications of using this charting as a vital sign. In 2006 the American Academy of Pediatrics published in the Pediatrics Journal a recommendation titled: "Menstruation in Girls and Adolescents: Using the Menstrual Sign as a Vital Sign." In 2015, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology published a Committee Opinion emphasizing the need to teach women the charting of their menses and the important pathophysiologic process that could be detected with the charting.