One thing that keeps popping up in conversations are the potential side effects of Covid-19, changes to the menstrual cycle.
Women all over the world have noticed significant changes in their periods. Some of them are experiencing extreme cramps, heavier blood flow, while others have to deal with irregularities.
The UK’s Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has so far received over 13,000 reports from people who have experienced period changes after having Covid-19 vaccines.
Dr Lee assumes the vaccines are not changing people’s hormones, but rather acting on the inflammatory systems in the body.
“We attribute a lot of biological processes to strictly hormones; hormones are really important and really cool, but there’s all these other immune and inflammatory processes that are also involved,” Lee says. “The endometrial lining is constantly being broken down and built up and broken down and built up, and that’s just a tonne of cellular regeneration.
“A lot of these mechanisms rely on inflammatory and anti-inflammatory processes to regulate this tissue building.”
Lee says she expects the vaccines will only influence a couple of cycles in those affected, as doses in the US are administered between 21 and 28 days – effectively across two menstrual cycles.
At this stage, experts believe the vaccine’s potential impact on periods will be short-lived, but the currently limited understanding of their link has also led to public concern over the vaccines’ impact on fertility.
Women all over the world have noticed significant changes in their periods. Some of them are experiencing extreme cramps, heavier blood flow, while others have to deal with irregularities.
The UK’s Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has so far received over 13,000 reports from people who have experienced period changes after having Covid-19 vaccines.
Dr Lee assumes the vaccines are not changing people’s hormones, but rather acting on the inflammatory systems in the body.
“We attribute a lot of biological processes to strictly hormones; hormones are really important and really cool, but there’s all these other immune and inflammatory processes that are also involved,” Lee says. “The endometrial lining is constantly being broken down and built up and broken down and built up, and that’s just a tonne of cellular regeneration.
“A lot of these mechanisms rely on inflammatory and anti-inflammatory processes to regulate this tissue building.”
Lee says she expects the vaccines will only influence a couple of cycles in those affected, as doses in the US are administered between 21 and 28 days – effectively across two menstrual cycles.
At this stage, experts believe the vaccine’s potential impact on periods will be short-lived, but the currently limited understanding of their link has also led to public concern over the vaccines’ impact on fertility.