What happens if prolactin is not treated?

High prolactin often occurs in women, but relatively less in men. The harm caused by high prolactin can be very serious. First of all, it will lead to irregular menstruation, and even cause the emergence of various complications. Therefore, if it is not controlled in time, high prolactin and not reduced by medication in time will cause reproductive difficulties in patients, and even symptoms of tumor compression.

Dangers of high prolactin

High prolactin is an endocrine disorder caused by multiple factors. It is more common in women and relatively rare in men. Continuous increase in serum prolactin (PRL) can lead to dysfunction of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis, thereby causing various hazards, such as irregular menstruation and infertility. What are the dangers of high prolactin?

1. Low estrogen status

Various degrees of menstrual irregularities occur, such as infrequent menstruation and long-term amenorrhea; there is obvious vaginal atrophy and dryness, which can cause difficulty in sexual intercourse; menopausal symptoms may appear, such as hot flashes and palpitations.

2. Infertility

People with slightly elevated prolactin levels can still ovulate, but their basal body temperature shows that the follicular phase is prolonged, the luteal phase is shortened, and the progesterone level is low, leading to luteal insufficiency and difficulty in becoming pregnant. Even if fertilization occurs, it is difficult for implantation to occur, and preclinical abortion often occurs. A significant increase in prolactin will affect ovulation and cause anovulatory infertility.

3. Tumor compression symptoms

The patient will feel headache and head swelling; because the tumor compresses the optic chiasm nerve, symptoms of visual field loss may occur.

4. Hyperandrogenism

High prolactin secretion is often accompanied by high androgen levels. Such patients may experience symptoms such as moderate obesity, seborrheic dermatitis, acne, hirsutism, and acromegaly.

Can high prolactin cause infertility?

Will high prolactin cause infertility? Excessive levels of prolactin can lead to infertility. Increased prolactin can significantly inhibit the normal secretion of pituitary gonadotropins (such as follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone), affecting the normal development of follicles, ovulation function and pregnancy function.

The decrease in follicle-stimulating hormone secretion will directly lead to the developmental disorder of the ovarian follicles, which will become weak or incomplete, and ultimately affect conception; while the insufficient secretion of luteinizing hormone will cause the corpus luteum to have imperfect function, making it difficult to maintain the fertilized follicles to continue to implant and develop, thus leading to infertility, and even if conception occurs, miscarriage is likely to occur.

In addition, excessive prolactin will cause the ovaries to lose their ability to respond to gonadotropin, and the synthesis of estrogen and progesterone will be significantly reduced, causing estrogen, which plays an important role in the conception process, to be at a low level, directly affecting the fertility function. When the amount of sex hormones decreases to a certain level, patients will experience many symptoms similar to those of female menopause.