About half the world’s population suffers from it every month, but even today, mystery still surrounds menstrual cramps.
Key points:
- More than 80 percent of teenage girls have experienced menstrual cramps
- Researchers are trying to understand why it is more serious for some
- They are currently recruiting participants in the Northern Territory
How can some people resist menstruation with pain medication while others experience such excruciating pain that they can not leave the house?
An Australian-first study, led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, aims to ensure that young women and girls with crippling menstrual cramps no longer have to miss out on life by identifying effective treatments early.
To do this, researchers track more than 3,000 young women and girls over the age of five who have been treated for menstrual cramps.
Leading researcher and gynecologist Professor Sonia Grover said “if we intervene early, then we may well be able to change the course of this problem”.
‘You lose iron, you lose energy’
For some, menstruation can cause debilitating pain, rage, depression and suicidal thoughts.
Darwin student Emma King is among those who suffered abnormally long periods before seeking help.
“I bled for three weeks out of every month, for several months consistently,” the 16-year-old said.
“The toll it takes on you physically is incredibly stressful, just as more stressful than you could imagine.
“You lose iron, you lose energy, you’re moody, you’re hungry, you’re tired.”
At times, Emma said, she felt so tired that she was forced to skip social activities and save her energy on catching up with the studio instead.
It wasn’t just the fatigue that gave Emma problems.
“It’s really painful,” she said.
Young people miss something
For many women, girls and some gender differences, Emma’s experience is all too familiar.
But Professor Grover said it did not have to be that way.
“Periods should not ruin your life,” she said.
More than 80 percent of teenage girls suffer from menstrual cramps, while 20 percent suffered so severely that they missed school and other activities, Professor Grover said.
The study, known as the LongSTEPPP project, is based on preliminary results showing that treating symptoms early can help lower the number of infertility and endometriosis later in life.
As part of their mission to capture data from across Australia, researchers have now turned their attention to recruitment in the Northern Territory using social media and outreach programs in remote communities.
Darwin-based gynecologist Namiko Aleker said the NT was particularly unique for three reasons:
- It has a younger population of women and girls compared to the rest of Australia
- It has a large population of Aboriginal women and girls
- More people live far away in the NT than the rest of Australia.
“These three challenges create an environment where it is a challenge to provide health care – especially to women and young girls at a really, really vulnerable time in their lives,” said Dr. Aleker.
Professor Grover said the project was the first of its kind because of its focus on young people.
“A lot of the work that has been done on endometriosis or pelvic pain has been done on women who are 25, 35, 40-year-old women,” she said.
“And yet we know that these women have often said ‘I have been in pain since I was a teenager’.
“It seems we should start when it starts, instead of addressing an issue when it may well have turned into something harder to deal with.”
To be eligible for the study, participants must be between 10 and 18 years old and have been referred to a gynecologist for menstrual or pelvic pain or endometriosis.
As part of the survey, participants must complete an online survey once a year for five years.
In Emma’s eyes, it’s a small price to pay to shed light on a taboo subject.
