Menstruation cycle also known as menstrual period and it is an example of biological rhythm of natural changes that occurs in the female reproductive systemin the uterus and ovariesfor about 28 days throughout the reproductive phase of women from puberty to menopause that make pregnancy possible Seenivasan and Priya, 2015Silverthorn, 2013. The cycle is obligatory for the production of oocytes, and for the preparation of the uterus for pregnancy Silverthorn, 2013. Menstruation cycle also called menstrual period is the liberation of blood from female uterus Dye and Blundell,1997Ellison and Lager, 1986. Bleeding usually lasts around 2 to 7 days McCarroll et al., 2015Nelson, 2009. The typical length of time between the first day of one period and the first day of the next is 21 to 45 days in young women and 21 to 35 days in adults (an average of 28 days) Diaz et al., 2006Nelson, 2009. The first period usually begins between twelve and fifteen years of age, a point in time known as menarcheDye and Blundell, 1997Zareen et al., 2016a. They may occasionally start as early as eight, and this onset may still be normal Nelson, 2009. Menstruation stops occurring after menopause which usually occurs between 45 and 55 years of age. Amenorrhea refers to a condition which is characterized with lack of menstrual periods from three to sixmonths during a women’s reproductive years Burger et al., 1985Soleymani et al., 2014.Short or tremendously small periods are termed as hypomenorrhea while those which last more than 7 days are called hypermenorrhea Fraser et al., 2007. This cycle can be reformed/changed by using contraceptives ( oral or injectable) Klump et al., 2013. Premenstrual syndrome is recurrent moderate psychological and physical symptoms that occur during the luteal phase of menses and resolve with menstruation. Menstruation period is totally controlled by hormones McCarroll et al., 2015. Up to 80% of women report having some symptoms during the one to two weeks prior to menstruation Biggs and Demuth, 2011. Common symptoms include exhausted sensation, touchiness, mood-swings acne, tender breasts, bloating, feeling tired, irritability and mood changes Biggs and Demuth, 2011. These symptoms interfere with normal life and therefore qualify as premenstrual syndrome in 20 to 30% of women. In 3 to 8%, they are severe Biggs and Demuth, 2011. The menstrual cycle is governed by hormonal changes Zareen et al., 2016b. In human, the levels of these ovarian hormones during the menstrual cycle have been found to influence binge eating Klump et al., 2008. Females have been found to experience different eating habits at different stages of their menstrual cycle, with food intake being higher during the luteal phase than the follicular phase Buffenstein et al., 1995Dye and Blundell,1997. Food intake increases by approximately 10% during the luteal phase compared to the follicular phase Buffenstein et al., 1995. These changes can be altered by using hormonal birth control to prevent pregnancy Klump et al., 2013. Each cycle can be divided into three phases based on events in the ovary (ovarian cycle) or in the uterus (uterine cycle) Silverthorn, 2013. The ovarian cycle consists of the follicular phase, ovulation, and luteal phase whereas the uterine cycle is divided into menstruation, proliferative phase, and secretory phase. Physical activities have a great effect on menstrual period as physical activity induces bleeding Ellison and Lager, 1986Shangold et al., 1979. Basic objective of this study was to investigate the number of days of menstruation period as well as the effect of profession on the duration of menstruation period in females of different areas of district Mardan.

Current findings are parallel with the study of Cooper et al., 1996Harlow and Matanoski, 1991 who indicated that menstrual cycle is much variable in women who is involved in different activities, as compared to that female who is sedentary. The similarities to the results from the North Carolina study, which used a highly accurate surrogate for ovulation day based on urinary hormone metabolites, Baird et al., 1991 suggest that bias caused by measurement error in our BBT-based marker of ovulation may be low.

A comparatively normal period of menstrual cycle 5-8 days was observed in household females, tailors and housewives who were almost free from studies as well as from job Zareen et al., 2016c. Tailors, household and house wives showed least elevated menstrual periods as there is either no or less physical activity. Only 3.409% household, 3.12% house wives and 8.33% tailors have the longest menstrual period i.e. 9-10 days. A comparatively normal menstruation (5-6 days) period of 30.76% respondents were observed in maids, about 25.64% maids had shortest menstrual period (3-4 days). Physical job stress and mental job stress were not related to ovulatory disturbances in 156 Japanese student nurses Nagata et al., 1986. No association between perceived levels of stress due to medical school and the prevalence of amenorrhea and Oligomenorrhea was found by evaluating questionnaire data in 159 medical students Clarvit, 1988.

Physical activity of maids leads to prolong the menstrual period. About 15.39% maids had the longest menstruation periods i.e. 9-20 days in this study. Only half number of teachers and students had normal menstrual period. 21.12% teachers and 48.67% students had a short menstrual period i.e. 3-4 days. As students and teachers are mostly involved in mental activities, this reveals that the mental activity has also an effect on menstruation period. The prevalence of polymenorrhea persisted with similar levels since the second gynecological year (about 2%). An ovulatory cycles with unopposed estrogen stimulation may lead to endometrial proliferation and hyperplasia. Without sufficient progesterone to stabilize and differentiate the endometrium, this mucous membrane becomes fragile and sloughs irregularly. Estrogen also affects uterine vascular tone, angiogenesis, prostaglandin formation, and endometrial nitric oxide production Livingstone and Fraser, 2002.

With the start of teenage (13-15 years), menstruation cycle is considered to be not normal, in this study almost half i.e. 40.91% of the teenagers had normal menstruation period, rest of the 59.09% respondents had irregular days of menstruation period either less than normal or it was higher than normal number of days. In 16-20 age group, 46.61% of the teenagers had normal menstruation period, rest of the 53.39% had irregular days of menstruation period, as these teenagers are mostly involved in studies. A comparatively normal menstruation (5-6 days) period of 31.65% respondents was observed in age group 21- 25 while in same age group about 37.41% respondents had least days of menstruation period i.e. 3-4 days. About 59.09% respondents of age group (26-30 years) had normal menstruation period (5-6 days). Only 2.72% respondents of this group had longest menstruation period (9-10 days). 44.26% respondents had normal menstrual period in age group (31-35 years) while in same group about 37.70% respondents had shortest menstruation period (3-4 days). In 36-40 age group 50% respondents had normal menstrual period while 50% had irregular days of menstruation period. With the increasing age menstruation cycle is observed to be increased or decreased. Only 33.33% respondents of age group 41-45 had normal menstruation period, while rest had either short or long periods. About 11.11% respondents of same group and 9.091% respondents of 45-50 age group had the longest menstruation periods (9-10 days).

This study reveals that the menstrual period is not only dependent upon age but also on the nature of the job/profession of a female. Periods may be shortened or prolonged depend upon the age and nature of physical and mental activity. Furthermore it also indicated that the menstrual period can be as short as 2 days while as long as 10 days, and it is concluded and recorded that the normal period of menstruation cycle was 5-6 days in females of different areas of district Mardan.