Search Here

Young teen smokers may run a heightened risk of developing chronic severe period pain, according to a new study. 

Majority of women will experience period pain during their reproductive life, with the pain severe up to 29 percent. Smoking has been thought as a potential risk factor but researches so far have been inconclusive. 

In the present study researchers followed a large population sample of 9000 women for 12 years. Every 3-4 years, between 2000 and 2012, researchers asked about the frequency of severe period pain that they had experienced. 

Researchers also considered other key influential factors such as educational attainment, martial status, employment, residential area, weight, lifestyle and reproductive history. 

In 2000, when the women were aged between 22 and 27, over half (59%) were non-smokers and around one in four (26%) were current smokers, according to the study findings. 

Around 7% of the women had started smoking by the age of 13, with a further 14% starting their habit at the age of 14-15. And 8% said they had started smoking before they began having monthly periods, the press release added. 

In 2000, one in four women said they regularly experienced period pain every month. The prevalence of period pain was slightly higher in current smokers (29%) than in non-smokers (23%).

Authors added that the study is observational so no definitive conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect.

The study was published in the journal Tobacco Control.