With women reporting changes to their menstrual cycles because of Covid-19 vaccines – research has finally been done to find out whether this is the case.
Menstrual cycles have been an overlooked sign of health for some time.
However, this all changed in early 2021 when people started noticing their menstrual bleeding was different after receiving their Covid-19 vaccinations.
Although not every person’s cycle changed or most people’s periods returned to normal a couple of months later, there was one obvious question that scientists needed to answer.
How many people experienced changes to their periods after they were vaccinated against Covid-19?
About 42 per cent – according to new research published in Science Advances which surveyed 39,129 fully vaccinated adults over three months between the ages of 18 and 80 who had not yet had Covid-19.
What were participants asked?
Participants were asked about changes they had noticed in their menstrual cycles after vaccination. For instance, their menstrual flow, cycle length, bleeding duration and common menstrual symptoms.
In addition, they had to provide information about their reproductive history (e.g. history of pregnancy), common reproductive conditions associated with altered menstrual bleeding patterns (e.g. endometriosis, polycystic ovaries) and other treatments (e.g. gender affirming hormones, IUDs).
What did researchers find?
The study found that:
• Around 42 percent of those who had regular menstrual cycles had bled more heavily than usual after they were vaccinated, while 44 percent reported no change after being vaccinated. A much smaller proportion of people experienced lighter periods.
• Participants who typically do not menstruate because they are menopausal or take reversible contraceptives or gender affirming hormones also experienced breakthrough bleeding.
• Those who bled heavier than usual after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine were likely to be older, identify as Latino or Hispanic, or have pre-existing conditions such as endometriosis.
Any changes to menstrual bleeding are not indicative of changes to fertility.
“Generally, changes to menstrual bleeding are not uncommon or dangerous, yet attention to these experiences is necessary to build trust in medicine,” researchers wrote in Friday’s edition of the Science Advances journal.
Based on their findings, Lee and her team suspected it is probable that Covid-19 vaccines could be impacting on the body’s inflammatory pathways, instead of changing ovarian hormone pathways.
They came to this conclusion because the difference between those with menstrual cycles who were taking hormone contraception and those who were not, were minimal.
Why is this research revolutionary?
Often, clinical trials focus on whether Covid-19 vaccines are safe to administer to those who are pregnant or if they affect fertility. However, they do not generally monitor respondents for more than a week after they receive their Covid-19 vaccine, or ask them for further information about their menstrual cycles.
According to Katharine Lee of the Washington University School of Medicine and her colleagues, this meant that Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers “had no way of addressing the extent to which this observation was a coincidence or a potential side effect of the vaccines”.
Originally published as Study shows that Covid-19 jabs affect menstrual cycles
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