Regular Periods
People normally assume a regular period occurs every 28 days but in actual fact every woman’s menstrual cycle is different. Depending on a woman's body and her hormones, a normal cycle patterns can range from 21 to 35 days. A woman's periods can range between 5 to 7 days.

Irregular Periods
Irregular periods affect about 30% of women in their reproductive years. An irregular period  can include a late period, an early period or bleeding between periods. It can also appear as particularly heavy or scanty bleeding. Irregular periods can also be in the form of a missed period, continuous periods, or periods that occur twice in one cycle.

Irregular menstrual periods are usually cause by sudden change in hormonal  level.  Period is cause by hormones, like estrogen and progesterone. These hormones are kept in the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and ovaries of your body. In order to trigger ovulation and menstruation, your body need to send signals to the parts concerned. Sometimes, these signals get crossed or skipped, causing irregular periods.

But what causes these hormone signals to get out of whack? Well, there are actually a number of things that can easily cause your hormone levels to change.

• Intense Stress: Stress is a common cause of irregular periods. If you are fatigued, worried, or anxious this can cause your hormones to become unbalanced.

• Diet and Weight: A poor diet or extreme weight loss or gain can also affect your hormones. Women with anorexia or bulimia often have no period or irregular periods.

• Too Much Exercise: Intense exercise can wreak havoc on your body, often causing irregular periods.

• Allopathic Drugs: Excessive use of drugs can and will affect the menstrual cycle. They affect the physiology or biology of the body.

• Age: Menopause causes changes in your hormone levels and this affects your periods.

• Hormonal Birth Control: Birth control pills and irregular periods sometimes go hand in hand.

Treating Irregular Periods

If you suffer from occasional irregular periods then there is noting to worry but if there is an underlying medical condition that is causing your irregular periods, then you should receive treatment for the condition. If your irregular periods annoys you then there are some things that you can do to help regulate your hormones.

• Control your stress levels. Learn to relax or just hang out. This may help put your cycle back on track.

• Get help for your eating disorder. If you suffer from eating disorder, you must seek help. Not only will these eating disorders interrupt your menstrual cycle, but they can also severely affect your health.

• Don’t over exercise. While it is important to exercise regularly and keep fit,  over exercise can be a problem. If you are an endurance athlete, try to cut back on your training a little bit, until your irregular periods return to normal.

• Be careful of your drugs: Check with your healthcare professional to see if something can be done about the drugs you are taking.

• Hormonal pills: Long-term use can lead to breast cancer.

Medical Treatments

There are a few medical treatments which may be helpful in regulating your period:

• Hormonal Contraceptives: Hormonal contraceptives are used to help regulate menstrual cycles. Like any synthetic drugs they can cause side effects. Use them with caution.

• Herbal Supplements: Herbal supplements is another alternative method to help regulate your periods. They do not give you side-effects. Speak with those people who have benefited from using herbs. Herbal supplements if they come in formulations are designed to treat your problems holistically and those popular formulas or brands are quite safe and free from side effects. Herbs like Angelica Sinensis, Paeonia Lactiflora and Glycyrrhiza Glabra have traditionally been combined as a formulation to treat gynecological problems. Clinical studies have proved that the use of these herbs can benefit women and have confirmed that the folklore use of these herbs are not without scientific basis. They should be taken for at least six months as they are gentle herbs and are used to rejuvenate the body gently. Drugs are like bullets. They are quick to give results but they can cause irreparable long-term side effects because of its "aggressive nature".

1) Clinical studies by western scientists have shown that licorice root extract may be helpful for treating symptoms associated with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Studies have shown that the extract has estrogenic activity and may help to regulate the estrogen-progesterone ratio. 39: 177-80.

2) Clinical research by western scientists have shown that glabridin and glabrene from licorice roots exerts estrogenic activity.  91(4-5):241-6 

3) Clinical research by western scientists have shown that isoliquiritigenin and glabrene from licorice roots exerts estrogenic activity.  78(3):291-8 

4) Clinical research by western scientists have shown that phytoestrogens (from plant source) are among the dietary factors affording protection against cancer and heart disease.  87:897-904

5) Clinical studies by western scientists have shown that two natural compounds derived from licorice root: glabridin, the major isoflavan, and glabrene, an isoflavene, both demonstrated estrogen-like activities and be used as a new agent for modulation of vascular injury and atherogenesis for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases in post-menopausal women. 147-55 

6) Clinical research by western scientists have shown that isoliquiritigenin and glabrene from licorice roots exerts estrogenic activity. 960-0760

7) Clinical research by western scientists have shown that glabridin is a phytoestrogen, binding to the human estrogen receptor and stimulating creatine kinase activity in rat uterus, epiphyseal cartilage, diaphyseal bone, aorta, and left ventricle of the heart.  5704-5709

8) Clinical studies by western scientists have shown that glabridin and glabrene bound to the human estrogen receptor, exhibited varying degrees of estrogen receptor agonism in vitro and in vivo, demonstrated estrogen-independent inhibitory activity on the growth of breast cancer cells and inhibited serotonin re-uptake which may be beneficial as antidepressant agents.

• Snait Tamir, Mark Eizenberg, Dalia Somjen., Naftali Stern, Rayah Shelach, Alvin Kaye, and Jacob Vaya. Estrogenic and Antiproliferative Properties of Glabridin from Licorice in Human Breast Cancer Cells. Cancer Research. 2000, 60, 5704-5709.

• Snait Tamir, Mark Eizenberg, Dalia Somjen, Sarit Izrael and Jacob Vaya. Estrogen Like-Activity of Glabrene and other Constituents Isolated from Licorice Root. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2001. 78:291-298.

• Snait Tamir, Sarit Izrael, Jacob Vaya. The Effect of Oxidative Stress on ERa and ERb Expression. The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (August - 2002), 81

• Jacob Vaya, Dalia Somjen and Snait Tamir., (2002) Estrogen-Like Activity of Licorice Root Extract and its Constituents. Submitted for publication in: Herbal Medicines: editors; Lester Packer and Barry Halliwell, Publisher- Marcel Dekker Inc