Menstrual cups can help prevent infection, improve vaginal health

Many ladies in low- and middle-income nations wrestle to purchase merchandise to handle their intervals, which might trigger them to skip college. So, making certain they’ve entry to menstrual merchandise is crucial.

A brand new Kenya-based examine from College of Illinois Chicago researchers exhibits that the advantages of 1 form of menstrual product—a menstrual cup—lengthen nicely past academic entry. Teenage ladies who got menstrual cups had been much less prone to purchase sure sorts of vaginal infections and had been extra prone to have a wholesome vaginal microbiome, the examine discovered. The findings are revealed in PLOS Medication.

The analysis adopted 436 Kenyan secondary college ladies, half of whom got menstrual cups. They had been examined each six months for bacterial vaginosis, a standard kind of an infection, and at 12 months and 30 months for sexually transmitted infections. The researchers additionally examined individuals’ vaginal microbiome to find out the relative prevalence of helpful and dangerous micro organism.

On the finish of the examine, the ladies with menstrual cups had been 26% much less prone to have bacterial vaginosis and had been 37% extra prone to have an optimum vaginal microbiome than the ladies who did not obtain a cup. Total, the menstrual cups didn’t seem to decrease the danger of sexually transmitted infections, however when the researchers managed for confounding components, resembling age and whether or not the ladies had been sexually energetic, they did see a lower in STIs amongst these utilizing a menstrual cup.

“The outcomes confirmed that menstrual cups may very well be a game-changer in serving to maintain ladies wholesome,” stated Supriya Mehta, an adjunct professor of epidemiology and biostatistics within the College of Public Well being at UIC and principal investigator on the examine.

The examine grew out of a dialog that Mehta had at a convention in Kenya in 2016 with Penelope Phillips-Howard, a professor on the Liverpool College of Tropical Medication in the UK. On the time, Phillips-Howard had carried out an preliminary randomized trial taking a look at whether or not menstrual cups had been efficient at retaining ladies in Kenya at school. As a part of the examine, the group examined for bacterial vaginosis and sexually transmitted infections, and she or he talked about to Mehta that their outcomes to date prompt that menstrual cups had been decreasing infections.

Mehta believed she knew why—as a result of menstrual cups assist keep a wholesome microbiome throughout menses. “In case your vagina is wholesome, then it is extra resilient to STI pathogens,” she defined.

With this speculation, Mehta and her co-authors had been in a position to create a sub-study wanting on the organic impression of menstrual cups that was nested inside a bigger examine of 4,000 ladies upon which Phillips-Howard was embarking.

There are a couple of causes that menstrual cups are extra helpful to vaginal well being than different menstrual merchandise, Mehta explains. The cup, which is bell-shaped and produced from medical-grade silicone, is inserted into the vagina, the place it collects blood. Tampons, however, do not take the blood out of the vaginal vault, and this iron-rich setting might be welcoming to the micro organism that trigger bacterial vaginosis. The cups are additionally higher than tampons at sustaining an acidic atmosphere, which is a deterrent to infections. As for sanitary pads or reusable cloths which might be worn too lengthy or not cleaned correctly, they will find yourself transferring micro organism into the vagina.

“These are all challenges that menstrual cups handle,” Mehta stated.

The examine was carried out in Kenya due to the hyperlink between menstrual merchandise and staying at school, and due to a further potential profit provided that 10% of 15-year-olds there reported having exchanged intercourse for sanitary pads. But, Mehta sees the outcomes as related in higher-income nations, too. She hopes the examine is repeated elsewhere to evaluate these advantages. Past the well being advantages for girls in nations just like the U.S., she additionally thinks menstrual cups can be notably useful for teams resembling homeless girls.

The researchers plan to proceed this examine for an additional yr. Mehta can be launching a second examine centered on intercourse staff in Kenya, which is a very weak group. As a result of they can not cease working when they’re menstruating, they typically interact in dangerous behaviors to handle their intervals, need to cost much less or do not receives a commission in any respect. Mehta may also examine the impression of giving intercourse staff menstrual cups, one type of which might be worn unobtrusively throughout intercourse.

Different researchers on the examine embrace Stefan Inexperienced, previously of UIC, and Runa Bhaumik, analysis assistant professor within the School of Medication at UIC, who’s co-investigator of the intercourse employee examine.