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February 28th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda TUESDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay News) — Menstrual cramps are the
bane of many women, but new research suggests that a form of vitamin D may
one day be added to the meager list of pain relievers for the sometimes
disabling condition.
A small study in Italy found that a single, high dose of
cholecalciferol — also known as vitamin D3 — was linked to a marked
reduction in menstrual cramps, with the largest benefits observed in women
reporting the most pain at the beginning of the study.
U.S. experts cautioned that it’s too early to recommend vitamin D3 to
those experiencing cramps — estimated to occur in at least half of all
reproductive-age women — because the study didn’t delve into possible
long-term risks of taking high doses.
“It’s provocative in the fact that the results are pretty amazing,”
said Dr. Robert Graham, an internist and vitamin D expert at Lenox Hill
Hospital in New York City. “But the dose [given] is a lot more than
conventionally given for any condition.”
The study was published Feb. 27 in the Archives of Internal
Medicine.
In the study, 40 Italian women were split into two groups: one
receiving a single oral dose of 300,000 IUs of vitamin D3 and the other
getting a placebo five days before the expected start of their menstrual
periods.
After two months, average pain scores dropped 41 percent for women
assigned vitamin D treatment, while no difference in pain was reported in
the placebo group.
Also, the women who took vitamin D reported no need to use nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), such as the pain reliever ibuprofen, to
manage their pain in the two-month study period, while 40 percent of those
assigned to placebo reported using an NSAID at least once.
Menstrual cramps, known by the medical name dysmenorrhea, typically
begin just before or at the start of a woman’s menstrual period and can
last several days. Experts attribute the pelvic pain to prostaglandins, a
hormone-like substance that contributes to the contraction and relaxation
of muscles and blood vessels.
Vitamin D3 apparently helped hamper prostaglandin production in study
participants, easing their pain, said Dr. Jill Rabin, chief of obstetrics
and gynecology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y.
The vitamin is also known to have anti-inflammatory effects, Rabin
added.
“The bottom line is, it looked like it worked,” said Rabin, also head
of urogynecology at the hospital. “It was a very well-done study, but my
comment is, it was one study. It asks more questions than it answers,
which is the sign of a good trial.”
The 300,000 IU dose of vitamin D3 given in the study also far exceeds
the daily intake of 600 IUs recommended for American women of reproductive
age, both Graham and Rabin said. And since the study period lasted only
two months, there was no way to tell whether such a high dose produced any
toxic long-term effects.
Currently used methods of controlling menstrual cramps include NSAIDs
and — among those with severe pain — birth control pills. But both have
potential risks: NSAID users can experience stomach or kidney troubles,
for example, while birth control pills are linked to blood clots in
certain women. The cost of vitamin D supplements would be roughly
comparable with both of these remedies.
Vitamin D use has also been widely studied as a possible preventive for
many other conditions, including heart disease, certain cancers and
autoimmune disorders.
The Italian study participants all had blood levels of vitamin D
measuring in the lowest 25 percent of normal at the study’s outset,
although the researchers didn’t report the womens’ blood levels afterward.
Experts wondered if women with higher blood levels would experience such
dramatic cramp relief as observed in the study.
Graham and Rabin agreed that much larger trials should be done before
they would recommend vitamin D3 use to any of their patients for cramp
relief.
“From a symptomatic standpoint, it’s something to be considered, but
more studies are needed to see the risks and benefits,” Graham said.
“Studies like this are starting to show that vitamin D is ubiquitous in
receptors in our bodies . . . but it needs further explanation.”
More information
To find out more about painful menstrual periods, head to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
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