Vitamin D May Alleviate Menstural Cramps

MEDIA RELEASE
28 June 2012

Vitamin D May Alleviate Menstural Cramps

Women who experience painful menstrual cramps could find relief from high dose Vitamin D according to new research.

The study, published in the Journal of American Medical Association’s Archives of Internal Medicine, revealed that women who suffer from primary dysmenorrhea (painful cramping before or during menstruation) experience much less menstrual pain and have no need to take pain medication for up to two months after receiving a single high dose of Vitamin D.

Associate Professor of University of Auckland and Gynaecologist, Dr Neil Johnson, says that over 90%of New Zealand women will have moderate to debilitating menstrual cramps at some time during their life.

“Dysmenorrhea is a significant problem affecting a large number of women both socially and healthwise. Between a third and a half of women will at some stage, lose a portion of work or daily activity due to painful menstrual cramps.

Many women are looking for more natural therapies rather than taking ongoing pain relief or hormones and Vitamin D rather than pain medication could make a real difference to many women.

A small study involved 40 women, 20 of whom took an ultra high dose of Vitamin D (300,000 IU) five days before their next expected period and 20 women took a placebo five days before their next expected period. The group taking Vitamin D reported at least two points lower (on a 10 point scale) than they had reported during previous painful cycles. After two months, this group experienced a 41% decrease in pain scores.

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Dr Johnson says that while the findings are based on a small research study, the strong benefit of Vitamin D on dysmenorrhea observed in the study warrants further larger trials of Vitamin D in the treatment of menstrual pain and inflammation in women.

“Further studies are needed to provide a better understanding of the potential for Vitamin D in delivery of pain relief and reduction of inflammation but the initial study is promising. We’ve already seen that Omega 3, magnesium and Vitamins B1 and B6 are effective in reducing painful menstrual cramps and adding Vitamin D to the arsenal could be extremely beneficial,” says Dr Johnson.

Michelle Palmer, Executive Director of Natural Products New Zealand says that the diverse benefits of Vitamin D continue to be uncovered and this latest find could be of huge significance to many Kiwi women.

Source: JAMA Archives of Internal Medicine:
Vol 172, Issue 4, Pgs 366-367, doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.715
“Improvement of Primary Dysmenorrhea Caused by a Single Oral Dose of Vitamin D: Results of a Randomised Double-blined, Placebo-Controlled Study”
Authors: A Lasco, A Catalano, S Benvenga

ENDS

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