COVID vaccine may temporarily add one day to the menstrual cycle: Research-Consumer Health News

Friday, January 7, 2022 (HealthDay News)-Vaccination with COVID-19 may temporarily extend the interval between women’s menstrual periods, a new study reports. ..

on average, Researcher found The extra time will be less than a day. That’s something many women don’t notice, and they don’t have to worry about it from a health standpoint, they said.

However, it supports reports from some women that the menstrual cycle of the month was different after being vaccinated with COVID.

Dr. Allison Edelman, a senior researcher and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, said:

It’s not really surprising that vaccination can affect women Limit, Edelman explained because there is a relationship between the immune system and menstruation.

The COVID-19 vaccine illegalizes a strong and desirable immune response. As part of that, the body produces cytokines. It is a small protein that stimulates the immune system to fight foreign invaders.

However, cytokines can also affect the internal “clock” that keeps various body processes running on schedule, Edelman said. Therefore, it makes sense that the timing of a woman’s menstruation can be slightly delayed for that month.

But Edelman said, there was little research In general, how vaccination affects a woman’s cycle.

“And where there is a lack of information, there is false information,” said Candice Tingen, a gynecological health and illness branch of the National Institute of Pediatric Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland. ..

The Federal Institute has funded the study as part of a larger project to investigate the link between COVID vaccination and changes in menstruation.

According to Tingen, the point is to fill the knowledge gap and provide better information to women prior to vaccination. During the COVID vaccination campaign, some women reported changes in the duration they believed to be related to shots on social media and, in some cases, in the federal government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

However, changes in menstruation were not monitored during the vaccine’s clinical trials, Tingen said.

Published January 5th in the journal for new research Obstetrics and gynecology, Researchers analyzed anonymous data from the birth tracking app. The user can enter information about the menstrual cycle and agree to use it for research purposes.

Edelman’s team focused on just under 4,000 women, of whom about 2,400 were vaccinated with COVID (mainly Moderna or Pfizer).

Compared to the three months before vaccination, these women had a slightly longer menstrual cycle after the first and second vaccinations. On average it was less than a day longer.

That meant a little more time during the period. The woman had no extra bleeding days. In contrast, unvaccinated females showed no change in mean cycle length over 5 months.

According to Edelman, this type of cycle length variation is within what is considered “normal” and is less than 8 days.

“Most women probably won’t notice the change in less than a day,” Tingen said. However, she pointed out that it is the average of this study, which means that the delay will be a little longer for some women.

And that may be a concern for some, Tingen said.

She agreed that vaccination, including some “concurrent chemicals,” could temporarily disrupt a woman’s cycle, given the relationship between the immune system and menstruation.

And now that some data is at hand, women can say that COVID shots may delay their next period a bit.

This study looked only at the length of the menstrual cycle and not at other types of menstrual changes, such as heavier bleeding. Also, the findings do not address COVID vaccination and childbirth, both Tingen and Edelman said.

It’s an area with a lot of false information. However, Tingen said all the data collected by the researchers at this point was reassuring. There is no evidence that COVID vaccination makes pregnancy difficult.

For more information

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID vaccination and childbirth..

Source: Alison Edelman, MD, MPH, Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland. Candace Tingen, PhD, Program Officer, Gynecology Health and Diseases Division, National Institute of Pediatric Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland. Obstetrics and gynecology, January 5, 2022