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 Compared to nonsmokers, smokers in the study were more likely to
suffer from severe menstrual pain and to experience a worsening of
pain as the number of cigarettes they smoked per day increased.
Exactly how smoking cigarettes might increase menstrual pain is not
entirely clear, but it may happen via a decrease in the amount of
oxygen available to the uterus, Dr. Jennifer Leighdon Wu, an
obstetrician/gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City,
told Reuters Health in a phone interview.
“We know that smoking causes vasoconstriction, or constriction of
the blood vessels,” said Wu, who wasn’t involved in the new study.
“When this happens with the uterus, it can cause pain.”
The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, tracked 9,067
women for an average of 13 years. At the start of the research, the
women were between the ages of 18 and 23. About 25 percent reported
experiencing dysmenorrhea, or painful periods, and approximately 25
percent were current smokers.
During the course of the study, about 14 percent of the women had
painful periods 70 to 80 percent of the time, which the researchers
considered to be “chronic” dysmenorrhea.
Compared with women who had never smoked, the risk of having
chronically painful periods during the course of the study was 33
percent higher for former smokers and 41 percent higher for current
smokers – even after accounting for social, lifestyle, and
reproductive factors that might contribute to dysmenorrhea.
The researchers also found that the earlier women started to smoke,
the higher their risk of chronically painful periods. Specifically,
the risk was 59 percent higher for women who started to smoke before
age 13, and 50 percent higher for those who took up cigarettes at
age 14 or 15.
The results may provide an incentive for young women to abstain from
smoking, study leader Dr. Hong Ju of the University of Queensland
told Reuters Health by email.
“This study conveys some important messages that smoking may
predispose women to repeated, distressing period pain immediately
after menstruation and throughout their reproductive life, thus
providing greater incentive for young women to abstain from
smoking,” Ju and colleagues wrote in their report.
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While the study involved young Australian women, the results “can be
generalized to young women from other countries with similar
characteristics,” Ju said.
Menstrual pain affects up to 91 percent of women of reproductive
age, the researchers say. Some 2 to 29 percent of the women report
severe pain, and may miss work or school as a result.
“There is a very real economic loss due to dysmenorrhea. Women can
lose a day or two of work a month, which translates into a lot of
lost work force,” Wu said.
As for why women who start smoking while very young tend to have
worse menstrual pain, the cause could be hormonal, she said.
“There are a lot of hormones that come into play at the time of
puberty, and taking up smoking before the age of 13 may affect that
hormonal axis,” Wu said. “This could be why these young girls have a
lot of pain when they get their period.”
Observational studies such as this one can't prove that smoking
causes menstrual pain, however. And as for whether quitting smoking
would ease menstrual pain, the jury is still out.
“We performed a preliminary analysis on the data and it shows that
women who gave up smoking were more likely to recover from menstrual
pain,” Ju said. “However, more research is needed to confirm the
hypothesis.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1qqAQuI Tobacco Control, online November 17,
2014.
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