PainRelief.com Interview with:
Prof. John Moraros Ph.D.
Dean, Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Suzhou, Jiangsu, China;
Institute of Population Health
University of Liverpool
Liverpool, United Kingdom
PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Across the world, women are twice as likely as men to experience depression, often with more severe physical symptoms. This difference is especially noticeable during their reproductive years and affects hundreds of millions of women. While links between mental and reproductive health are known, they are not fully understood.
In our study, we wanted to figure out the relationship and directionality between depression and menstrual pain (dysmenorrhea). It is kind of like trying to solve a very complex puzzle. Instead of doing experiments directly on people, we used a clever approach called Mendelian Randomization. This method works like nature’s experiment. It uses genetic data, like tiny instructions in our DNA, to see if having certain genes linked to depression also makes people more likely to have menstrual pain. This helps us find patterns and identify cause-and-effect without the need to test it directly on people. It is like looking for clues to see how the pieces of this complex puzzle all fit together.
