Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Women and girls who are exposed to air pollutants over a long period may have a higher risk of developing frequent and severe cramps during menstruation, according to a large study.
The study, conducted by researchers from China Medical University Hospital in Taiwan, looked at the association between air quality and the development of dysmenorrhea, which is a common gynecological disorder affecting 16 to 91 per cent of girls and women of reproductive age. Of those, two to 29 per cent experience such painful symptoms that they’re unable to go about their daily activities.
In addition to painful cramps symptoms of dysmenorrhea, some of which can be life-long, can include pain in the lower abdomen, pain in the lower back and legs, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, fainting, weakness, fatigue, and headaches.
The disorder can be caused by hormonal imbalances or underlying gynecological conditions, such as endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, or tumors in the pelvic cavity.
And while there is no known cure for dysmenorrhea, symptoms can be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs and hormonal contraceptives.
According to Chung Y. Hsu, one of the study’s authors and a professor at the College of Medicine at China Medical University, previous research has already shown that women who smoke or drink alcohol during their periods, who are overweight, had their first period at a young age, or who have never been pregnant, have a greater risk of dysmenorrhea.
“But here we demonstrate for the first time another important risk factor for developing dysmenorrhea: air quality, in particular long-term exposure to pollution,” he said in a press release.
“We don’t yet know the underlying mechanism, but emotional stress in women exposed to air pollutants, or higher average levels of the hormone-like prostaglandins in their body, might be part of the answer.”
To reach this conclusion, the researchers studied public health data from national databases on 296,078 Taiwanese women and girls between 16 to 55 years old from 2000 to 2013.
The study sample only included women and girls without any recorded history of dysmenorrhea before 2000.
The academics compared the health measures data with the women and girls’ exposure to air pollutants, such as nitrogen and carbon oxides and fine particulate matter to see if there was an association between the risk of dysmenorrhea and air quality.
They found that 4.2 per cent of women and girls in the studied sample were diagnosed with dysmenorrhea for the first time and that those who were younger, had a lower income, and lived in more urbanized areas had a higher risk of developing the disorder.
What’s more, the study showed the risk of dysmenorrhea among women and girls who lived in areas with the highest levels of air pollutants over the 13-year period was 33 times higher than for those who were exposed to lower levels of pollutants.
According to the findings, the greatest individual effect from long-term exposure to air pollutants came from fine particulate matter; although, nitrogen oxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide also contributed to the increased risk of dysmenorrhea.
“Our results study demonstrate the major impact of the quality of air on human health in general, here specifically on the risk of dysmenorrhea in women and girls. This is a clear illustration of the need to for actions by governmental agencies and citizens to reduce air pollution, in order to improve human health,” Hsu said.
The results of the study have been published in the open access journal Frontiers in Public Health.
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.