Randomised trial, 2012
Does Candida yeast grow more before your period and cause symptoms?
In a very small pilot study of three women, Candida yeast grew more during the premenstrual phase before symptoms appeared. This is preliminary evidence and needs confirmation in larger studies.
What they did
Pilot study where 10 Australian women aged 18-50 with a history of yeast infections took daily vaginal swabs for 2 weeks during the luteal phase of their menstrual cycle. Researchers counted the yeast on each swab.
What they found
Three of the ten women had Candida colonization. In these three women, the number of yeast cells increased before symptoms of vaginitis developed, demonstrating for the first time that daily colonization patterns precede symptom development.
What it means for you
This is the first study to track daily yeast growth during the premenstrual phase in individual women. However, only three women actually had yeast present, so the results are very preliminary. We need larger studies to understand why yeast grows more premenstrually in some women.
10
women in study
3
women with Candida colonization
2 weeks
duration of swab collection
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual vaginal colonization of Candida and symptoms of vaginitis
- Authors
- Watson CJ, Grando D, Garland SM et al.
- Journal
- Journal of medical microbiology
- Year
- 2012
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- What was tested
- Daily vaginal swabs during 2 weeks of luteal phase
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.044578-0