Tehran University Medical Journal

---

Background: Sexual function in women may be affected by their menstrual cycle. Lack of sexual drive is a deficiency or absence of sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity. This study aims at determining the changes in sexual desire during the menstrual cycle and those associated with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and evaluates sexual desire during the menstrual cycle and the associated changes with PMS.

Methods: The sample for this cross-sectional study includes 150 women employed in factories in Tehran. The instruments for data collection were questionnaires and journals of premenstrual experiences.

Results: Analysis of the data showed that the mean age of the subjects was 31 years )standard deviation = 8.46(. The most frequent decrease in sexual desire was during the week prior to the start of menstrual bleeding (27.3%) and the least frequent was from the end of bleeding to one week before the next period of menstrual bleeding (5.3%). In 24.7% of the cases, an increase in sexual desire occurred during the middle of the menstrual cycle and 27.3% during the course of menstrual bleeding. Moreover, 10.7% of the subjects had an increase in sexual desire during the week before bleeding. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between changes in sexual desire and PMS (p<0.001). In addition, a positive correlation was found between changes in sexual desire and breast tenderness, joint and muscle pain.

Conclusions: The sexual desire of women, with or without PMS, changes during the menstrual cycle. The greatest decrease in sexual desire occurs during the first week before menstrual bleeding in women with PMS. Such information can greatly help toward understanding and treatment in sexual therapy for couples.

---

Background: Premenstrual syndrome is one of the most incidencial problems in women’s during reproductive age. That effect personal performance in family and society status. Varied therapeutic treatment has been studied for its promotion. The main attention was to find a method without complications. This study performed with aim of assessing effect of one period of continuous aerobic exercise on premenstrual syndrome in 18-25 years female students in jahrom medical school.
 Methods: This study was a kind of semi experimental study with two group plane. Forty students were assessed for premenstrual syndrome with regular mense, without previous history of Diabetes mellitus and Thyroid, Gynecologic and psychological disease. Twenty subjects (with similar VO2 MAX) were selected and randomly divided to two experimental and control groups. Data gathering was from ILPDD questionnaire concluded 11 question about signs and symptoms of mental and physical complain related to premenstrual syndrome that filled by samples. All samples have positive five complain that four of them depend on mental symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. Intensity of quantity of premenstrual syndrome and levels of estrogen and progesterone were measured. Then, exercise regime including continuous aerobic exercise, were performed for eight weeks, with frequency of three sessions every week. At the end of 8th week, posttests were repeated in the situation similar to pretest. Analytic statistic as a Nonparametric Mann-whitney test, and nonparametric Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used for comparing variables.
Results: This study showed that after two method of aerobic exercise, somatic and effective complain was decrease in case group (p>0.05). Hormonal change in two groups was not significant.
Conclusion: Releaving aerobic experiences is effective for somatic and affective complains secondary to premenstrual syndrome and this plan can be replace by other methods of medical management.