Women who suffer from severe menstrual cramps may have structural changes in areas of the brain related to, inter alia, with the reception of pain stimuli and an emotional reaction to them – according to the research reported by the Pain magazine.
Strong menstrual pain, known in medicine as the primary dysmenorrhea syndrome, is the most common gynecological complaint in women of reproductive age. It is estimated that they concern up to 50-80 percent. ladies of this group. The primary name means that the causes of this disorder have not been established; as opposed to secondary dysmenorrhea which is related to some medical condition or an anatomical abnormality.
Strong menstrual pain is cyclical – it begins with the onset of bleeding and usually ends during the menstrual period.
Previous studies have shown that chronic pains, which stimulate the central nervous system for a long time, may cause changes in its function and structure. However, it was not known whether cyclical pain had a similar effect.
To check this, scientists from several research centers in Taiwan examined the brains of 32 patients who experienced severe menstrual pain and 32 healthy women matched for age and phase of the monthly cycle. The tests were performed in the pre-ovulatory phase of the cycle, in which the women did not experience any menstrual pain. Using a technique called voxel-based morphometry, they compared the total volume of gray matter in the brains of the ladies, as well as the volume of gray matter in different regions of the brain.
In patients suffering from severe menstrual pain, an abnormally lower gray matter volume was found in areas of the brain associated with the transmission of pain stimuli, a higher level of their processing and the regulation of the emotional response to pain. On the other hand, the increase in gray matter volume concerned the areas involved in the modulation of pain sensations and regulation of the hormonal balance.
Moreover, the size of some lesions was proportional to the intensity of the pain experienced by the women.
Our research showed that abnormal changes in gray matter volume were present in patients suffering from severe menstrual pain even during the pain-free period. This proves that not only chronic pain, but also cyclical menstrual pain can lead to long-term changes in the central nervous system – comments Prof. Jen-Chuen Hsieh of the Yang-Ming National University in Taipei, Taiwan.
The researcher emphasizes that many years of research are necessary to assess the possible consequences and reversibility of changes in the brain and the role that hormones may play here. (PAP)