Effect of war on the menstrual cycle

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Psychosomatic Medicine
• Sociomedical Sciences

Background:

• War and conflict situations represent significant stressors.
• The impact of acute stress on women's reproductive health, specifically menstrual cycles, requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of a brief war period on the menstrual cycles of women exposed to conflict.
• To assess the duration and reversibility of war-induced menstrual abnormalities.

Main Methods:

• A cohort study involving women aged 15-45 years in war-exposed villages and a control group.
• Menstrual history data were collected via questionnaires at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months post-war.
• Analysis compared menstrual aberrations in women with varying exposure durations (Group A: 3-16 days in war zone; Group B: displaced within 2 days; Group C: control).

Main Results:

• Menstrual aberrations were observed in over 35% of Group A and 10.5% of Group B women 3 months post-war, significantly higher than the control group (2.6%).
• Six months after the war, most women experienced cycle normalization, though 18.6% in Group A still had irregularities.
• The incidence of menstrual abnormalities correlated with the duration of exposure to the war zone.

Conclusions:

• Acute stress from a short war period can induce menstrual abnormalities in a significant percentage of women.
• These war-related menstrual irregularities may persist for more than two cycles.
• Most menstrual cycle disturbances resolved spontaneously without medical intervention.