The Effects of Eight Weeks Aerobic Exercise on Serum Level of Beta-endorphin and Pain Perception of Dysmenorrhea in Sedentary Adolescent Girls

Menstrual is an inevitable reality and a part of life for millions of young women around the world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of aerobic exercise on serum level beta - endorphin and pain perception of dysmenorrhea in sedentary adolescent girls. This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 22 subjects with moderate to severe dysmenorrheal and were in age range of 14 to 17 years. They were randomly assigned to a control group (n=10) and experimental (n=12) one. Aerobic exercise program included an aerobic activity with 60-75% of maximum heart rate for 24 sessions (three sessions per week, each session lasting 45-60 min). Before and after the exercise serum level of beta-endorphin was measured. In order to investigate differences within and between groups, Dependent Student t-test and independent student t-test were used. Our findings showed that exercise intervention significantly increased serum levels of beta - endorphin and decreased pain perception index. The results indicated that aerobic exercise can cause a euphoric state resulting from a rise in blood concentration of beta -endorphin and improve the perception of the pain of dysmenorrhea.