Insights & Discussion
Curcumin supplements have comparable effects to placebos in alleviating symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome and dysmenorrhea in young women.
In the methodology of this study, a randomized, triple-blinded, placebo-controlled trial was carried out. Women who were affected by both Premenstrual Syndrome and dysmenorrhea were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the curcumin or placebo group. Participants were given a capsule, containing either 500mg of curcuminoid or a placebo, once daily, starting from 7 days before menstruation and continuing till three days after menstruation. This was maintained for three continuous menstrual cycles.
As per the results, upon the completion of the trial, both the curcumin and placebo groups witnessed a significant decrease in the severity of Premenstrual Syndrome and dysmenorrhea symptoms, as evident by a decrease in the scores of the Premenstrual Syndrome Screening Tool and the visual analog scale. Therefore, curcumin was found to have similar effects to the placebo, in terms of relieving symptoms of both Premenstrual Syndrome and dysmenorrhea.
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Saffron shows promising improvements in dealing with women's health issues related to labor, childbirth, premenstrual syndrome and menopause.
2023 Modern Care Journal Efficacy of Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in Premenstrual Syndrome, Labor, Childbirth, and Menopause: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials Irani M, Rahmanian A, Soltani N
Systematic Review Labour Menopause Premenstrual Syndrome
For the methodology, the investigators implemented a systematic review by utilizing the PICO process to explore various databases like PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, among others, until February 2023. A strategically designed search was conducted using a set of keywords related to saffron and women's health conditions. From a pool of 164 articles, 20 randomized controlled trials that met the minimum score based on the Jadad scale were included in the study.
In terms of results, the investigation revealed that saffron holds positive impacts on labor and childbirth, such as enhancing Bishop's score, fostering labor progression, and reducing labor pain intensity and fatigue. Moreover, it helps with episiotomy healing and ameliorates mood swings and psychological symptoms associated with menopause and premenstrual syndrome. The study also acknowledges some influence of saffron on postpartum depression.
Based on beneficial effects and minimal side effects, ginger may be a potential adjunct treatment for primary dysmenorrhea.
2021 Cureus Journal of Medical Science Efficacy of Ginger in the Treatment of Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Negi R, Sharma DS, Gaur DR, Bahadur A, Jelly P
Systematic Review Ginger Period Pain
This review has shown that ginger can minimize pain in one or two periods. The present analysis provides compelling proof of the impact of ginger on relieving menstrual pain.
The finding in this study has verified the possibility of ginger efficacy in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea, though no/small side effects have been identified and its use is associated with health benefits. Ginger is easily accessible due to its low cost. It can also be commonly used in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea. The use of ginger is very useful and effective as NSAIDs because of the increasing trend in the use of traditional medicine and herbal medicine, particularly for people who do not want to use chemical drugs with more side effects. We strongly recommend that further research be performed with a greater number of patients regarding the effectiveness and protection of various doses of ginger.
A systematic analysis indicates that ginger has a higher safety profile than NSAIDs for pain relief, with a smaller number of gastric side effects and fewer kidney risks.
2021 Cureus Journal of Medical Science Efficacy of Ginger in the Treatment of Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Negi R, Sharma DS, Gaur DR, Bahadur A, Jelly P
Systematic Review Ginger Period Pain
The use of ginger is very useful and effective as NSAIDs because of the increasing trend in the use of traditional medicine and herbal medicine, particularly for people who do not want to use chemical drugs with more side effects.
Adding acupuncture to conventional therapy may decrease the subsequent endometriosis risk in female rheumatoid arthritis patients.
2021 Frontiers in Medicine The Relationship of Acupuncture Use to the Endometriosis Risk in Females With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Real-World Evidence From Population-Based Health Claims Chen Wei-Jen, Livneh Hanoch, Hsu Chien-Hui, Hu Ying-To, Lai Ning-Sheng, Guo How-Ran, et al.
Endometriosis Rheumatoid Arthritis
Between 1998 and 2010, female subjects with RA were recruited from a nationwide database (5,736 patients; age ≥20 years). Enrolled patients included 2,407 acupuncture users and 2,407 nonusers randomly selected using propensity scores. The occurrence of endometriosis was recorded through the end of 2012. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) associated with acupuncture use.
Results: During the follow-up period, 35 acupuncture users and 94 non-users developed endometriosis, with incidence rates of 2.36 and 4.91 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. Acupuncture use was associated with a 55% lower endometriosis risk. Those who received high intensity acupuncture (≥15 packages) had the greatest benefit.
The results of multivariable analysis demonstrated that the use of acupuncture was related to a significantly reduced risk of endometriosis. In the subgroup analysis, the medium- to high-level intensity acupuncture use was found to possibly lessen the risk of having endometriosis for more than 70%. We discovered that the post-rheumatoid arthritis acupuncture use would significantly reduce the risk of endometriosis in a dose-dependent manner.
The current evidence suggests that acupuncture and moxibustion is more effective than ibuprofen or Fenbid in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea.
2020 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture and Moxibustion for Primary Dysmenorrhea: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Jun Yang, Jun Xiong, Ting Yuan, Xue Wang, Yunfeng Jiang, Xiaohong Zhou, et al.
Systematic Review
This overview provided a comprehensive overview of the evidence on the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture and moxibustion for PD. Evidence of moderate quality suggested that acupuncture and moxibustion had a positive effect on indomethacin or Fenbid in treating PD. Low-quality evidence showed that compared to NSAIDs, acupuncture and moxibustion could relieve PD related pain with less adverse effects, which needs to be further researched. The adverse effects related to the acupuncture and moxibustion were mild, and they included dizziness, fainting, or minimal bleeding after acupuncture.
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