Periods Items

Contraceptive pill use 'reduces painful period symptoms'

Painful periods are increasingly common but medication can help. Doctors have long prescribed the contraceptive pill to help regulate painful, heavy periods and a 30-year study from Scandinavia focussed on testing its effectiveness.

Painful periods 'increase sensitivity through the month'

As if painful periods weren't bad enough in isolation, scientists now believe they can increase sensitivity to pain throughout your cycle. Using brain imaging, a team from Oxford University found that periods affect the way the brain processes pain.

Early periods? It's in the genes

What age were you when you got your first period? Scientists have found that more than half of the variation between ages of early menstruation can be explained by the genes. A study of almost 26,000 Brits looked at teenagers starting their period.