According to an Australian survey, 72 percent of women worldwide suffer from dysmenorrhoea.
The study was initiated by Dr Jane Marjoribanks and her colleagues from the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group in Auckland, New Zealand to test the effectiveness and safety of using NSAIDs for treating dysmenorrhea.
“Dysmenorrhoea is a common gynaecological problem consisting of painful cramps accompanying menstruation, which in the absence of any underlying abnormality is known as primary dysmenorrhoea,” informs Dr Marjoribanks.
She further adds, “Research has shown that women with dysmenorrhoea have high levels of prostaglandins, hormones
known to cause cramping abdominal pain. ...NSAIDs are drugs which act by blocking prostaglandin production.”
Study details
The researchers gathered study material from the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group Trials Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science.
Data was also collected from the National Research Register, the Clinical Trials Register, abstracts of major scientific meetings and bibliographies of known articles.
The entire collected data was then combined with the help of inverse variance methods.
Study of 73 randomized controlled trials carried out in 18 countries including 5,156 women, helped the researchers reach at the conclusions of the present study.
Ibuprofen was found to be significantly more effective in relieving period pains than paracetamol, but it also had more side-effects than the latter.
Are NSAID’s really effective?
The researchers acknowledged that there was lack of concrete evidence to determine which NSAID was the safest for relieving period pains.
It may be noted that NSAIDs like ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen are mostly used for menstrual pains, but the study found no significant proof for Aspirin as a pain reliever.
Period pains are caused due to imbalance of hormones like prostaglandin during menstrual cycle in women.
The negative effects like indigestion, headaches and drowsiness were associated with taking NSAIDs for pain relief from dysmenorrhoea.
Dr Marjoribanks said, “Women using these drugs need to be aware of the side effects. It would be interesting to see whether these could be reduced, without loss of effectiveness, by combining lower doses with other drugs such as paracetamol, or with other therapies such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.”
The study was funded by the University of Auckland School of Medicine and Princess of Wales Memorial Trust Fund managed by the Mercia Barnes Fund.
It was published in today’s online issue of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Post new comment