Beware Of Indigenous Menstruation Cycles Associated With The Covid Long Effect

Illustration of menstruation (Photo: Freepik/wayhomestudio)

JAKARTA - Women with long Covid tend to have a longer and heavier menstrual cycle. This condition has the potential to increase the risk of iron deficiency, which could actually worsen the long Covid symptoms themselves, according to doctors in the UK.

Reporting from The Guardian's page, these findings come from surveys of more than 12 thousand women in the UK. The survey results show that the severity of long Covid symptoms can go up and down according to the menstrual cycle and usually worsen when women are menstruating.

Preliminary tests found hormonal changes and excess inflammation of the uterine layer in women with long Covid. Even so, there is no evidence that long Covid damages the ovarian function.

Researchers call this phenomenon a two-way relationship, namely long Covid can affect the menstrual cycle, while hormonal changes due to menstruation can also worsen long Covid symptoms.

"Our hope is that this research can help develop a more specific treatment for women with long Covid who experience menstrual disorders," said Dr TRUEline Maybin, a gynecologist consultant at the University of Edinburgh.

"This may also pave the way for women's special care for long Covid, which is indeed quite experienced by women of reproductive age," he continued.

It is estimated that around 400 million people worldwide have experienced or are still living with long Covid. In the UK alone, nearly 2 million people reported still feeling the symptoms after more than four weeks of being infected with the virus.

Symptoms of long Covid are very diverse, with more than 200 recorded symptoms. Some of the most common include fatigue, 'fog brain' (hard concentration), shortness of breath, digestive problems, headaches, and changes in the sense of smell and taste.

In a survey conducted between March and May 2021, the researchers analyzed data from 12,187 women. More than 1,000 of them still have long Covid, around 1,700 have recovered, and 9,400 have never tested positive for Covid-19. As a result, women with long Covid are reported to have longer menstruation, heavier and bleeding outside the normal menstrual cycle.

Follow-up surveys on 54 women also found that their symptoms worsened before and during menstruation. In addition, blood analysis of 10 women with long Covid shows inflammation in the uterus and hormone levels hydrotestosterone higher than normal, two things that are suspected to be the cause of menstruation are heavier.

Many women of fertile age are already prone to iron deficiency, and severe menstruation can exacerbate this problem. Lack of iron can cause symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, to dizziness. These symptoms are also common for long Covid sufferers.

"If long Covid is added to iron deficiency, it's no wonder these women feel very weak and have difficulty doing activities," explained Dr. Maybin.

The same thing was also conveyed by Dr. Viki Male, a reproductive immunology researcher from Imperial College London. He said that inflammation in the uterus is often associated with heavier menstruation.

Therefore, anti-inflammatory drugs that are usually used to reduce menstrual bleeding may also be beneficial for long Covid sufferers who experience similar symptoms.

"These findings provide clues that anti-inflammatory drugs may help women who experience severe menstruation as one of the long symptoms of Covid." said Dr Male.