Taking The Pill may ease the symptoms of painful menstrual periods, a 30-year study has found.
It is estimated that up to 70% of young women suffer from the condition, known as dysmenorrhea. In many cases, women’s everyday lives and activities are disrupted for several days a month, including regular absenteeism from work and school.
The Swedish study questioned hundreds of 19-year-old women, one group in 1981, a second in 1991 and a final group in 2001.
Each group of around 400 to 520 women were asked to give information about their menstruation history and contraceptive use. They were then reassessed five years later at the age of 24.
Lead researcher Dr Ingela Lindh, from Gothenburg University, said: "We found there was a significant difference in the severity of dysmenorrhoea depending on whether or not the women used combined oral contraceptives."
Two different scales were used to grade the patients’ pain. One, a verbal system, rated pain as non-existent, mild, moderate or severe. The other, allowed the patient to grade her pain on a 10cm line that started with "no pain at all" and ended with "unbearable pain".
Dr Lindh said: "We found that combined oral contraceptive use reduced dysmenorrhoea by 0.3 units, which means that every third woman went one step down on the VMS scale, for instance from severe pain to moderate pain, and which meant that they suffered less pain, improved their working ability and there was a decrease in the need for analgesics.”
At present oral contraceptives are not licensed to treat period pain so many doctors are unwilling to prescribe them for that reason.
It is hoped the new evidence will lead to a review of the current licensing agreement from the European Medicines Agency.
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