The impact of today’s chronic stress on a woman’s menstrual function

О. L. Lovkina, N. G. Masibroda, O. A. Muntyan, В. В. Кливак, А.V. Vozniuk
In: Reports of Vinnytsia National Medical University · 2023 · vol. 27(2) , pp. 331–335 · doi:10.31393/reports-vnmedical-2023-27(2)-26 · W4385079742
article OA: diamond CC0
🔓 Open OA copy Full text JSON View on OpenAlex View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-07, 2026-07-09 ⓘ

This review analyzed literature and found that chronic stress, particularly from war, significantly impacts women's menstrual function, leading to abnormal uterine bleeding in over half of surveyed Ukrainian women.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-07, 2026-07-09 · read from full text ⓘ

This paper is a systematic review of scientific literature and online conference/webinar materials on how chronic stress affects women’s menstrual function, using PubMed and Google Scholar searches with terms such as stress, menstrual cycle, war, and abnormal uterine bleeding. It describes menstrual cycle regulation as a multi-step “cascade” involving the cerebral cortex and limbic structures, with neuropeptides (dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, kisspeptin) and melatonin playing central roles, and summarizes evidence that stress can disrupt neurotransmitter and hormone synthesis/usage, contributing to menstrual disorders. The paper highlights that during the war, 53.4% of women reported changes in normal cycles, including moderate to heavy bleeding with pain, irregular cycles, and fatigue/weakness consistent with abnormal uterine bleeding, while noting that the review draws on literature selected over the past year and additional webinar materials rather than reporting a new quantitative cohort analysis. Relevance to endometriosis: the paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis, and it was included in the corpus via a keyword match related to menstrual dysfunction under stress.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Annotation. The article presents a review of the scientific literature on the problem of menstrual dysfunction under the influence of chronic stress. The war has caused the most severe stress for the Ukrainian population in recent months. Women have faced increased workloads, stressful situations, and poor nutrition and hygiene. The combination of all these factors has affected women’s health, especially their reproductive system. Since the beginning of the war, 53.4% of women have noticed changes in their normal menstrual cycle. They reported moderate to heavy bleeding associated with pain, irregular cycles, feeling weak and fatigue, which is a sign of abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). The regulation of the menstrual cycle is a multi-stage “cascade”, the upper level of which is the cerebral cortex and structures of the limbic system (hippocampus, amygdala). Neuropeptides (dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and kisspeptin) and the hormone melatonin are central to this process. Stressful situations directly affect the synthesis and use of neurotransmitters and hormones, disrupting the most important link in the regulation of the menstrual cycle. During the war, many women faced threats to their lives and health, which led to psycho-emotional distress that negatively affected many aspects of reproductive health. The purpose of our work was to search, systematize and analyze relevant scientific sources and view online conferences and webinars on menstrual disorders under the influence of chronic stress. We conducted a systematic review and an analysis of the relevant literature and video materials over the past year. We used PubMed and Google Scholar to search for data. Search words “stress”, “menstrual cycle”, “war”, and “abnormal uterine bleeding” were used to query data. Analysis of the collected data suggests that the problem of menstrual disorders is very relevant today because most women today are affected by chronic stress.
Full text 8,047 characters · extracted from oa-doi-fallback · click to expand
The impact of today’s chronic stress on a woman’s menstrual function DOI: https://doi.org/10.31393/reports-vnmedical-2023-27(2)-26Keywords: menstrual disorders, stress, abnormal uterine bleeding.Abstract Annotation. The article presents a review of the scientific literature on the problem of menstrual dysfunction under the influence of chronic stress. The war has caused the most severe stress for the Ukrainian population in recent months. Women have faced increased workloads, stressful situations, and poor nutrition and hygiene. The combination of all these factors has affected women’s health, especially their reproductive system. Since the beginning of the war, 53.4% of women have noticed changes in their normal menstrual cycle. They reported moderate to heavy bleeding associated with pain, irregular cycles, feeling weak and fatigue, which is a sign of abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). The regulation of the menstrual cycle is a multi-stage “cascade”, the upper level of which is the cerebral cortex and structures of the limbic system (hippocampus, amygdala). Neuropeptides (dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and kisspeptin) and the hormone melatonin are central to this process. Stressful situations directly affect the synthesis and use of neurotransmitters and hormones, disrupting the most important link in the regulation of the menstrual cycle. During the war, many women faced threats to their lives and health, which led to psycho-emotional distress that negatively affected many aspects of reproductive health. The purpose of our work was to search, systematize and analyze relevant scientific sources and view online conferences and webinars on menstrual disorders under the influence of chronic stress. We conducted a systematic review and an analysis of the relevant literature and video materials over the past year. We used PubMed and Google Scholar to search for data. Search words “stress”, “menstrual cycle”, “war”, and “abnormal uterine bleeding” were used to query data. Analysis of the collected data suggests that the problem of menstrual disorders is very relevant today because most women today are affected by chronic stress. Downloads References Abu-Musa, A. A., Kobeissi, L., Hannoun, A. B., & Inhorn, M. C. (2008). Effect of war on fertility: a review of the literature. Reproductive BioMedicine Online, 17(1), 43-53. doi: 10.1016/s1472-6483(10)60189-7 Aguirre F. S., Blake, J., Cosman, F., Hodis, H. N., Hoffstetter, S., Kaunitz, A. M., Kingsberg, S. A., … & Utian, W. H. (2017). The 2017 hormone therapy position statement of The North American Menopause Society. The Journal of The North American Menopause Society, 24(7), 728-753. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000000921 Anifandis, G., Messini, C. I., Daponte, A., & Messinis, I. E. (2020). COVID-19 and fertility: a virtual reality. Reproductive biomedicine online, 41(2), 157-159. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2020.05.001 Baber, R. J. (2016). IMS Recommendations on women’s midlife health and menopause hormone therapy. Climacteric, 19(2), 109-150. doi: 10.3109/13697137.2015.1129166. Borgi, L., McMullan, C., Wohlhueter, A., Curhan, G. C., Fisher, N.D., & Forman, J. P. (2017). Effect of Vitamin D on EndothelialFunction: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Am J Hypertens, 30(2), 124-129. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpw135 Czernobilsky, B. (2015). Endometriosis. In H. Fox (Ed.). Obstetricaland Gynecological Pathology (p. 763-777). New York: ChurchillLiving stone. Eagan, S. M. (2019). Menstrual Suppression for Military Women. Barriers to Care in the United States. Obstet Gynecol., 134(1), 72-6. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000003318 Gangloff, A., Bergeron, J., Lemieux, I., & Despres, J. P. (2016). Changes in circulating vitamin D levels with loss of adiposetissue. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care, 19(6), 464-70. doi:10.1097/MCO.0000000000000315 GrassrootsHealth, A public Health Promotion Organization. www.grassrootshealth.net Harris, T. G., Miller, L., & Ulasingam, S. L. (2009). Depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate and combined oral contraceptive used and cervical neoplasia among women with oncogenic human papillomavirus infection. Am J Obstet Gynecol., 489(1), 481-489. Holick, M. F. (2018). The D-Lightful Vitamin D for Good Health. Canadian Society of Experts. The Vitamin D Society. https://www.vitamindsociety.org/ Kaptain, S, Bloom, L., & Weir, M. M. (2002). Hormonal effects of depo-provera in cervical smears. Cancer, 96(2), 74-82. doi: 10.1002/cncr.10476 Ministry of Health of Ukraine. (2018). Клінічний протокол по веденню пацієнток з аномальними матковими кровотечами, імплементований згідно Наказу МОЗ України від 13.04.2016 р. № 353 [The clinical protocol for the management of patients with abnormal uterine bleeding is implemented in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine № 353 dated 04/13/2016]. Munro, M. G., Critchley, H. O., & Fraser, I. S. (2018). The two FIGO systems for normal and abnormal uterine bleeding symptoms and classification of causes of abnormal uterine bleeding in the reproductive years: 2018 revisions. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 143(3), 393-408. Naftalin, J., & Jurkovic, D. (2019). The endometrial-myometrialjunction: a fresh look at a busy crossing. Ultrasound Obstet. Gynecol., 34(1), 1-11. doi: 10.1002/uog.6432/ Nelson, A. L., & Ritchie, J. J. (2019). Severe anemia from heavy menstrual bleeding requires heightened attention. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 213(1), 97, e1-97.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2015.04.023 Rafique, N., & Al-Sheikh, M. H. (2018). Prevalence of menstrual problems and their association with psychological stress in young female students studying health sciences. Saudi medical journal, 39(1), 67-73. doi: 10.15537/smj.2018.1.21438 Ralph, C. R., Lehman, M. N., Goodman, R. L., & Tilbrook, A. J. (2016). Impact of psychosocial stress on gonadotrophins and sexual behaviour in females: role for cortisol? Reproduction, 152(1), R1-R14. doi: 10.1530/REP-15-0604 Rodriguez, M. B., Lethaby, A., Low, C., & Cameron, I. T. (2019). Cyclical progestogens for heavy menstrual bleeding. Cochrane Database Syst., 8(8), CD001016. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001016.pub3 Santoro, N., Filicori, M., & Crowley, W. F. (1986). Hypogonadotropic disorders in men and women: diagnosis and therapy with pulsatile gonadotropin – releasing hormone. Jr Endor Rev., 7(1), 11. doi: 10.1210/edrv-7-1-11 Savona-Ventura, C., Mahmood, T., Mukhopadhyay, S., Martins, N., Louwen, F., & Tarlatzis, B. (2022). The consequences of armed conflict on the health of women and newborn and sexual reproductive health – A position statement by the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG). Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol., 274, 80-82. doi: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2022.05.015 Schliep, K. C., Mumford, S. L., Vladutiu, C. J., Ahrens, K. A., Perkins, N. J., Sjaarda, L. A., & Schisterman, E. F. (2020). Perceived stress, reproductive hormones, and ovulatory function: a prospective cohort study. Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), 26(2), 177-184. doi: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000000238 Shufelt, C. L., Torbati, T., & Dutra, E. (2017). Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and the Long-Term Health Consequences. Seminars in reproductive medicine, 35(3), 256-262. doi: 10.1055/s-0037-1603581 Trivedi, N., Chauhan, N., & Vaidya, V. (2016). Effectiveness and safety of dydrogesterone in regularization of menstrual cyce: a post-marketing study. Gynecol Endocrinol., 32(8), 667-671. doi: 10.3109/09513590.2016.1152238 Vessey, M., & Yeates, D. (2017). Oral contraceptives and benignbreast disease: an update of findings in a large cohort study. Contraception, 76(6), 418-424. DOI:10.1016/j.contraception.2007.08.011 Vigil, P., Melendez, J., Soto, H., Petkovic, G., Bernal, Y. A., & Molina, S. (2022). Chronic Stress and Ovulatory Dysfunction: Implications in Times of COVID-19. Front Glob Womens Health, 3, 866104. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2022.866104 Vormann, J. (2016). Magnesium: Nutrition and Homoeostasis. AIMS Public Health, 3(2), 329-340. doi: 10.3934/publichealth. 2016.2.329

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

⚙ Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: oa-doi-fallback ⓘ

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

Too few in-corpus citations on either side for a chart; here are the lists.

Cites (1)

References (23)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK