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Missed period can be an alarm for pregnancy but missed cycle not always means pregnancy. Your cycle could be missed if you had a stress (sometimes exams, meek love or fight with loved ones), if you are sick (some infection diseases), if you dramatically loose a weight, if you have some hormonal disturbances, etc.
There are 11 main reasons why your period could be missed/late:
1. Stress,
2. Illness,
3. Change in Schedules,
4. Change in Medications,
5. Being Overweight,
6. Being Underweight,
7. Miscalculation,
8. Hormonal Dysfunctions,
9. Peri-Menopause,
10. Menopause,
11. Pregnancy.
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 Stress
Stress can affect many things in our lives, including our periods. Sometimes we're so stressed out that our body produces hormones that halt our bleeding.
Illness
A sudden, short illness or even a longer illness can cause your periods to be delayed. This is usually temporary.
Change in Schedules
Changing schedules can really throw off your body clock. This is particularly true if you go from days to nights at work or vice versa.
Change in Medications
Perhaps you're trying a new medication and a delayed or absent period is the cause. Be sure to talk to your doctor or midwife about this side effect. It is very common with some methods of birth control.
Being Overweight
Carrying around too much weight can hormonally shift your cycles and even stop them. Most women will see a return to normal cycles and fertility with the loss of some weight.
Being Underweight
If you do not have enough body fat you will not have regular periods, sometimes your periods even can stop all together. This is called amenorrhea. Typically a weight gain will help you have your periods return. This is a frequent cause of a missed period in women who work out to an extreme or are professional athletes.
Miscalculation
The menstrual cycle varies from woman to woman. While we say that the average menstrual cycle is 28 days long, that is not true for everyone. Sometimes our period is believed to be late when in all actuality we have simply miss calculated. If you have irregular menstrual cycles, but know when you ovulate, look for your period about two weeks after you ovulate. That may help you keep an easier track of your periods.
Hormonal Dysfunctions
There are several types of hormonal dysfunctions and several types of menstrual cycle (periods). In general, whole menstrual cycle and rhythm depend on female hormones. If hormones are changed, cycle also will be changed. See all in chapters "HORMONAL DYSFUNCTIONS" and in "MENSTRUATION - PERIODS".
Peri-Menopause
Peri-menopause is the period of time where you are transitioning from reproductive age to a non-reproductive age. Your periods may be lighter, heavier, more frequent or less frequent - but mostly just not normal. If you do not wish to get pregnant, be sure to continue to use birth control because you are likely to still be fertile at least some of the time.
Menopause
Menopause is when you have reached the point in your life where you will no longer ovulate or menstruate. Menopause is a natural life event.
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Pregnancy
Finally! Yes, your missed period might be because you're pregnant! A simple pregnancy test can usually help you determine if you have missed your period because you are pregnant. The urine pregnancy tests and blood pregnancy tests look for the hormone hCG.
It is useful to know that normally, ovulation occurs 14-15 days before the first day of your monthly period (if you cycle is 28-30 days). Please remember that your next ovulation will occur 14 days after the first day of your previous menstrual period. Pregnancy could happen only if the egg is fertilized within 24 hours from its release. Fertilization only occurs if you had unprotected sexual contact with person who has healthy sperm active enough to fertilize your healthy egg.
Just pay a special attention to your fillings. You could find more signs of pregnancy.
It is always useful to know some symptoms of the pregnancy which could appear in most cases (besides missed period):
Changes in you appetite. Food craving sometimes can be a sign of pregnancy. Don't rely on them as a sure symptom (it may be all in your head, or even a sign that your body is low on a particular nutrient), but if cravings are accompanied by some of the other symptoms on this list, start counting the days from your last period.
Altered sense of taste. You may notice that your sense of taste changes. Some women say they have a metallic taste in their mouth, others that they cannot stand the taste of certain products. Often pregnant women cannot eat food which they usually like.
Frequent urination. Once the embryo implants and begins producing the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), you may find yourself going to the bathroom more often.
Morning sickness (vomiting in the morning). As early as a couple of days following conception, you may begin feeling morning nauseated and queasy. Sometimes pregnancy-related nausea can be a problem morning, noon, or night.
Tender breasts and darkening of your areolas. Very often at the beginning of pregnancy women feel enlarged breast, some tender and even sometimes painful breasts. If in addition the skin around your nipples gets darker, you may have successfully conceived. If you're pregnant, your breasts will probably become increasingly tender to the touch, similar to the way they feel before your period, only more so. Once your body grows accustomed to the hormone surge, the pain will subside.
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Implantation bleeding and/or cramping. About eight days after ovulation you may experience implantation spotting, a slight staining of a pink or brown color, as well as some cramping. You might also see some spotting around the time you expect your period; this is caused by the egg burrowing into the endometrial lining.
Fatigue. Feeling tired? No, make that exhausted. High levels of the hormone progesterone can make you feel as if you've run a marathon when all you've done is put in a day at the office. Fatigue is a hallmark of early pregnancy, though probably not a surefire symptom on its own.
Increased vaginal discharges (sometimes). During pregnancy the hormonal balance is changed and some women can feel increased discharge.
Other unusual feelings like sleepiness, restlessness, irritability, etc.
How to check and be sure about missed period?
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You can make the pregnancy test (available in all pharmacies with detailed instructions). But before buying it is recommended to check the accuracy of the test (you can ask the provider or check in instruction of the test). Different tests have different accuracies (from 70% to 95%);
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You can check your basal temperature (early morning before waking up from the bed). If the temperature is higher than 37.1-37.2 – it could mean pregnancy (50% accuracy);
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You can go to the doctor for ultrasound test (85%-95% accuracy).
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