First and Second Hand Smoking Significantly Increases Risk of Painful Menstrual Periods

Dysmenorrhea is an all-too-common common condition in which women have painful menstrual periods which are often accompanied by excessive bleeding.  The causes of dysmenorrhea are not well known, but are associated to environmental factors such as smoking. 

A recent Ohio study reported that teenage women who smoked 10 or more cigarettes daily were twice as likely to get dysmenorrhea as non smokers.  Another study of 1,645 young women in China reported that exposure to second hand tobacco smoke increased their risk of dysmenorrheal by about 50% versus non exposed women.

Cigarette smoke contains many toxic chemicals including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, particulates and a number of highly toxic and cancer causing poly cyclic aromatic hydrocarbon chemicals.  It is believed by some researchers that the toxic poly aromatic hydrocarbons present in tobacco smoke may play a major role in dysmmenorhea symptoms.

This research was reported in the March 2009 Journal of Adolescent Health (2009;44(3):237-43).