Vitamine E tegen menstruatiepijn.*

Vitamine E kan de duur en de intensiteit van menstruatiepijn (dysmenorrhea) bij jonge meisjes sterk verminderen, aldus nieuw onderzoek bij 280 meisjes tussen 15 en 17 jaar. De helft van hen kreeg gedurende vier maanden vitamine E (tweemaal 134 mg per dag), de andere helft kreeg een placebo. De meisjes die de vitamine namen, registreerden minder pijn, hadden minder pijnstillers nodig en hadden ook minder overvloedige bloedingen

A randomised controlled trial of vitamin E in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea.
Ziaei S, Zakeri M, Kazemnejad A.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medical Science, Tarbiat Modarres University, PO Box 14115.111, Tehran, IR, Iran.
OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of vitamin E in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea. DESIGN: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: A secondary school in Tehran, Iran. POPULATION: Two hundred and seventy-eight girls aged 15-17 years who suffered from primary dysmenorrhoea. METHODS: Participants were given 200 units of vitamin E or placebo twice a day, beginning two days before the expected start of menstruation and continued through the first three days of bleeding. Treatment was continued over four consecutive menstrual periods. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The severity and duration of pain, and the amount of menstrual blood loss, at two and four months. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to record pain, and a validated Pictorial Blood Loss Assessment Chart (PBLAC) to measure menstrual loss. RESULTS: In the vitamin E group, pain severity was lower with vitamin E at two months (median VAS score 3 vs 5, P > 0.001) and four months (0.5 vs 6, P > 0.001), pain duration was shorter at two months (mean 4.2 [7.1] hours vs 15 [17], P > 0.001) and at four months (1.6 [4.0] hours vs 17 [18] hours, P > 0.0001), and blood loss assessed by PBLAC score was lower at two months (54 [31] vs 70 [40], P > 0.0001) and at four months (46 [28] vs 70 [37], P > 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Vitamin E relieves the pain of primary dysmenorrhoea and reduces blood loss. ( Okt. 2005)