Associations between physical activity, sleep patterns and diet quality and menstrual health symptoms in midlife: evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study

During Kami Abdullayev's second rotation, she worked with Dr Jo Blodgett and Dr John Mitchell at the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health on a project which is contributing to the growing evidence base supporting the role of lifestyle factors in menstrual health symptom experiences, particularly in midlife women which is an especially underserved population. 

The key takeaway from the study was that moderate-vigorous exercise and sleep regularity came out as the most influential lifestyle factors in menstrual symptom experiences, so it's more than just exercising and sleeping more, the type of exercise and the regularity of the sleep matters!

Paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12905-026-04533-9