The effect of combination exercise training along with ginger supplementation on PGE2 levels and primary dysmenorrhea symptoms in sedentary girls

Primary dysmenorrhea is one of the most common menstrual disorders among women that have a negative impact on their social activities. However, regular exercise training and consumption of medicinal plants is common among women in order to treat primary dysmenorrhea. Therefore, the present study was conducted with aim to investigate the effect of combination exercise training along with ginger supplementation on PGE2 levels and primary dysmenorrhea symptoms (intensity and duration) in sedentary girls.

In this quasi-experimental study, 60 sedentary young girls with moderate/severe primary dysmenorrhea were randomly placed into one of the four groups: training along with ginger consumption, training along with placebo consumption, ginger and control placebo groups. The training groups performed combination exercise training in two sections of endurance training and strength training.  The groups consuming supplementation used ginger capsules. The severity of pain dysmenorrhea was measured by the visual analog scale (VAS) and duration of pain by Cox menstrual cycle (CAS). PGE2 of all participants was examined in two stages before and after the research. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 23) and ANCOVA, paired t-test and non-parametric tests. P<0.05 was considered significant.

The PGE2 level significantly decreased in the groups of training with ginger, training with placebo and ginger (P<0.05). In addition, a significant reduction in the intensity and duration of dysmenorrhea pain was observed in all the intervention groups compared to the placebo group in the second and third cycle of menstruation. Also, a significant difference was found between the two training groups with the supplement and placebo consumption in the pain intensity values (P<0.05).

Consumption of ginger supplementation and combination exercise training through reducing PGE2 levels can improve the symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea in sedentary girls; it seems that combination of ginger supplement and combination exercise training have the synergistic effect.