Premenstrual syndrome vs. menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea)
Some people describe girls' menstrual mood as sunny and cloudy with occasional showers, which changes rapidly and makes people inaccessible; Even the temper is like thunder and hail, and the wind and cloud change color, which makes people unprepared. Zhao Shunrong, pharmacist, chairman of Taiwan Province Preventive Health Care Association, pointed out that physical pain and some emotional ups and downs are actually closely related to the hormonal changes caused by women's menstrual cycle, which is the so-called "premenstrual syndrome".
"premenstrual syndrome" refers to those who occur in the luteal phase of female menstrual cycle and have periodic physical discomfort, emotional and behavioral changes, which affect daily life, social activities and interpersonal relationships. Symptoms may include: emotional irritability, depression and fatigue; As for physical symptoms, there are abdominal distension, edema, pain and headache.
In addition, menstrual cramp (dysmenorrhea) refers to the pain in the lower abdomen at or before the beginning of the menstrual period, which may last for 2 to 3 days. Symptoms range from mild annoyance to severe pain, which can interfere with normal activities. Pharmacist Zhao Shunrong explained that in addition to cramps in the lower abdomen, women may also have some symptoms of menstrual cramps, including low back pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache and irritability.
Menstrual pain can be divided into two types:
Dysmenorrhea can be divided into two types, namely primary dysmenorrhea and secondary dysmenorrhea:
Primary dysmenorrhea: it is caused by physiological cycle mechanism; In women's menstrual cycle, the endometrium first thickens and may be pregnant; After ovulation, if the egg is not fertilized or pregnant, the newly added uterine tissue will fall off because it is not used, and the endometrium will release prostaglandin after falling off. Because if the prostaglandin is too high, and other uterine inflammatory mediators are released, it will cause uterine contraction. Therefore, these substances are considered to be the main factors leading to primary menstrual pain, which may lead to vomiting, diarrhea and headache with pain.
Secondary menstrual pain: There are other potential problems behind it, such as endometriosis, hysteromyoma, ectopic pregnancy, interstitial cystitis, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, reproductive organ infection, ovarian cyst and other diseases.
Research: Preventive use of painkillers before menstruation may help patients to relieve pain.
Is menstrual pain suitable for taking painkillers? A study published by the University of California in the American Journal of Women's Health surveyed 3,302 women. The results show that the culprit behind PMS is an inflammatory substance, and it is found that the severity of PMS symptoms is related to the inflammatory index.
This study shows that the preventive use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs by women in advance may help to avoid the related symptoms caused by these inflammations and may also help patients to relieve pain.
Painkillers don't just relieve pain.
As for taking painkillers, what should I pay attention to? Do you know that?/You know what? Painkillers are not just painkillers! Pharmacist Zhao Shunrong explained that "painkillers" can be divided into two categories: one is painkillers with pure analgesic effect, such as morphine, which only relieves pain. The other is anti-inflammatory painkillers, such as NSAID, which have both anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Painkillers are needed in many clinical situations. The main function of painkillers is to "inhibit the inflammatory reaction of prostaglandin and produce therapeutic effect, not just to relieve pain", but it does have side effects. Generally, the most common injury is the gastrointestinal tract, which can even cause kidney damage in severe cases, so you can't increase the dose at will. If you take these drugs before menstruation begins, the effect will be better.
Consult a doctor or pharmacist before taking vitamins to relieve PMS.
Pharmacist Zhao Shunrong suggested that if you don't choose anti-inflammatory painkillers to relieve menstrual pain, you can use hot compress or heating pad on the pelvis, or on your back and lower abdomen, but it is not appropriate to do strenuous exercise at this time. You can do simple aerobic or stretching exercises, keep enough exercise at ordinary times, or supplement proper nutrition, which can also relieve abdominal pain and help relieve menstrual cramps.
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, taking calcium can reduce water retention, relieve spasm and back pain, and taking about 1 1,000 mg of calcium every day is harmless, especially because calcium has many other benefits, such as good for bones. Vitamin B supplementation may also help to relieve patients' unstable mood.
As for vitamin B6, vitamin E, magnesium, manganese and tryptophan, what role do they have in relieving PMS? Pharmacist Zhao Shunrong said that there is not much research on treatment methods in this area, which may do more harm than good; For example, if you take too much, vitamin B6 and vitamin E can cause side effects. If you are considering trying these vitamins or supplements, please consult your doctor or pharmacist.
Avoid dysmenorrhea and stay away from 3C food? The pharmacist replied …
Is it true that "avoid menstrual pain and stay away from 3C foods, such as coffee, chocolate and cheese, that is, the so-called" 3C "(coffee, cheese and chocolate) foods containing tyramine acid"? Avoid eating too much food containing tyramine acid during physiological period, so as not to cause vasospasm and headache. Zhao Shunrong, a pharmacist, explained that tyrosine is a neurotransmitter and a precursor to improve the level of plasma neurotransmitters, and its side effects easily affect emotions. Tyrosine can be synthesized from phenylalanine in vivo and exists in many high-protein foods, such as "3C" foods: chocolate, cheese and citrus.
Avoid menstrual pain, but also pay attention to avoid menstrual drinking, because before menstruation, due to the influence of female hormone secretion, the ability to decompose enzymes is low, the ability to metabolize alcohol is reduced, and drinking is easy to become addicted. And avoid eating cold food during menstruation. The main reason is that cold food may cause abdominal blood vessels to contract, blood flow is insufficient, and pain is aggravated.
Six foods to stay away from dysmenorrhea:
In the menstrual diet, you can eat some foods that can increase serotonin and bring pleasure, such as chicken, beef, deep-sea fish, nuts, almonds, cashews and spinach, as well as carbohydrates (such as whole wheat bread and soda biscuits). There are also six recommended foods to help you stay away from menstrual pain:
In the research on how to relieve menstrual pain, nutritionist Dr. Anjali Mukerjee wrote that it may be effective to change the diet about 1 month to stay away from physical pain, and suggested that the following foods should be properly considered:
(1) Essential fatty acids: Eating enough anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids in green leafy vegetables and beans instead of meat and adding fat in dairy products and oils can not only promote the production of beneficial prostaglandins to inhibit inflammation, but also alleviate other menstrual discomfort symptoms.
(2) Phytoestrogen: Bean products such as beans, vegetables and fruits, especially tofu, contain phytoestrogen, which helps to reduce the effect of estrogen, thus reducing menstrual symptoms and the risk of breast cancer.
(3) Ginger: It can fight pain, including joint pain caused by arthritis and menstrual cramps.
(4) Mint: It can relieve painful spasm, flatulence and abdominal distension.
(5) Blueberry: contains a lot of phytonutrients, which can diminish inflammation and relieve pain.
(6) Pumpkin seed: It is an excellent source of magnesium, which can reduce the number of migraines.
(7) Red wine: Studies have found that resveratrol, a compound in red grape skin, can relieve menstrual pain.
Pharmacist Zhao Shunrong reminded us to keep normal work and rest, don't stay up late, implement a "balanced diet", fry less, barbecue less food, eat more fruits and vegetables and drink more water, develop moderate "regular exercise" on weekdays, establish good physical resistance, and take the opportunity to adjust bad living habits to add points to health.
Vitamin D is a healthy hormone, and proper supplementation is beneficial to health.
In addition to the above diet can help relieve menstrual pain, in recent years, the medical community has also found that vitamin D is also a weapon to deal with chronic pain. Vitamin D is called "sunshine vitamin" in the field of vitamins, which is an important nutrient to maintain normal health of human body and a "health hormone" with various physiological functions.
Pharmacist Zhao Shunrong pointed out that many diseases may be mainly due to the lack of vitamin D in human blood. In addition to maintaining calcium and phosphorus balance and bone health, vitamin D has many non-bone health functions, including: protecting the heart and blood vessels, reducing the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes; Adjust immunity, reduce the mortality of cancer and renal dialysis patients, and prevent colorectal cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer; Prevention of respiratory tract infection and long-term unexplained pain; Prevent inflammation, asthma, fracture, myasthenia (fall), multiple sclerosis and dementia; Prevent infant asthma, prevent pregnant women from miscarriage, and help men and women to reproduce.
Vitamin D can relieve chronic pain and muscle pain.
Pharmacist Zhao Shunrong explained that when vitamin D is insufficient or deficient, it will harm the innate immune response, make individuals susceptible to infection, and lead to the decline of systemic antibacterial ability. Recent studies show that vitamin D supplementation has a good effect on cancer pain and muscle pain, and the possible mechanism is to reduce the anti-inflammatory effect mediated by cytokine and prostaglandin release and the influence on T cell reaction.
Research: Vitamin D helps to reduce menstrual cramps.
In 20 12, AntoninoSasco, MD, University of Messina, Italy, conducted a study on reducing menstrual cramps with vitamin D. The study showed that vitamin D can significantly reduce menstrual cramps in most patients. Researchers have studied the possible dangers of taking large doses of vitamin D, and the results are encouraging. Vitamin D may eventually be added to more and more natural therapies that have been scientifically proven to be effective. In this study, 40 women were selected for a double-blind experiment, in which 20 women took a large dose of vitamin D (300,000 000IU) five days before the expected start of menstruation and 20 women took a placebo.
Notably, none of the women taking vitamin D indicated that they had used the painkiller NSAID during the treatment phase of the trial, while eight women taking placebo had used it at least once. NSAID is a standard drug for the treatment of menstrual cramps. In addition, all women who took vitamin D reported at least some improvement. At the beginning of the experiment, the average pain on the scale of 10 (where 10 means extreme pain) was 5.85. By the end of the second cycle, the average score was 3.5.
Researchers at the University of Messina found that vitamin D seems to affect the pathway of pain and inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandin. It is known that the excessive production of prostaglandin in uterus is a factor of dysmenorrhea symptoms, including menstrual cramps. Women who experience painful menstrual cramps can be relieved by using large doses of vitamin D3, and perhaps future dietary supplements can replace the painkillers currently used.
It's useless to get vitamin D wisely and get too much sun exposure.
Our bodies naturally absorb vitamin D through sunlight. But at present, the air is polluted, and the wavelength of sunlight converted into vitamin D is between 290nm-3 15nm, so the exposure between am11-pm1:00 is effective. According to recent research, it is not enough to bask in the sun to achieve cancer prevention concentration, because the concentration of vitamin D in the sun cannot be increased to a certain extent, so it is useless to sunbathe more.
And the content of vitamin D in food is extremely low. Interestingly, most health foods containing vitamin D in the market have consumed a lot of vitamin D in the manufacturing process, which is far lower than the recommended daily dose of medical research institutions. If you choose vitamin D health food as a supplement, please read the label first and make sure it contains enough vitamin D certificates. When choosing, you can pay attention to whether it is strictly produced by pharmaceutical-grade manufacturers, and obtain the official license documents through the examination of Fu Wei department. As well as the third-party inspection agency certified by the Ministry of Health, the health care products with content and quality and safety certification can be assured and guaranteed; And it is best recommended by professional doctor Yamatonokusushi to achieve the essential significance of preventive health care.
Vitamin D health food is recommended for adults to take 800-2000 iu daily. According to the seventh edition of the National Health Administration of the Ministry of Health, the reference intake of vitamin D dietary nutrients for China people is 2,000 IU. Pharmacist Zhao Shunrong said that through the collection of multiple clinical reports, there are individual differences in the risk of oral poisoning. In terms of safe dosage, IOM (National College of Medicine) currently believes that adults take vitamin D 4,000 IU every day without any toxicity. However, many doctors believe that clinical observation of 4000 ~ 10000 IU per day has not found toxicity after long-term use.
According to recent research, it is not enough to bask in the sun to achieve cancer prevention concentration, because the concentration of vitamin D in the sun cannot be increased to a certain extent, so it is useless to sunbathe more. A study by the University of California found that the preventive use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs by women before menstruation may help to avoid the related symptoms caused by these inflammations, and may also help patients to relieve pain. Physical pain and some emotional ups and downs are actually closely related to the hormonal changes produced by women's menstrual cycle, which is called "premenstrual syndrome". Avoid eating too much food containing tyramine acid during physiological period, such as coffee, chocolate, cheese, etc., so as not to cause vasospasm and headache. Ginger can fight pain, including arthritis and joint pain caused by menstrual cramps. In 20 12, AntoninoSasco, MD, University of Messina, Italy, conducted a study on reducing menstrual cramps with vitamin D. The study showed that vitamin D can significantly reduce menstrual cramps in most patients.