This website provides study information and opportunities to participate in research about how the menstrual cycle impacts experiences of multiple sclerosis.
Interested in taking part? Click the button below to register your interest and be contacted by the team!
Individuals with MS often experience unpredictable changes in disease-related symptoms such as fatigue, muscle weakness, poor balance and co-ordination. Previous research in females with MS has suggested that these symptoms have the potential to be worsened at key points of the menstrual cycle.
Specifically, just before or during menstruation, these variables are negatively impacted.
Despite this preliminary evidence, no study has yet provided a detailed overview of individual symptom changes, and their severity, across the menstrual cycle. Furthermore, there have been no mechanistic studies that investigate changes within the nervous system to explain these findings, meaning that females with MS and the clinicians that support them cannot predict or manage symptoms appropriately.
An online study (open to anyone in the UK) where people with MS will be asked to report their symptoms daily for two menstrual cycles (or a 60-day equivalent) in a mobile application.
A lab-based study (open to those who can attend in Newcastle upon Tyne) to perform a laboratory-based assessment of nervous system function at three timepoints across a menstrual cycle (or a 30-day equivalent).
