The effects of n-3 fatty acids and Rosa damascena extract on primary dysmenorrhea Soheila Davaneghi 1 , Ali Tarighat-Esfanjani 2 , Abdolrasool Safaiyan 3 , Zahra Fardiazar 4 1 School of Nutrition, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, I. R. Iran; 2 Nutrition Research Center, Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, I. R. Iran - E-mail: Tarighata@yahoo; 3 School of Health Sciences, Ta- briz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, I. R. Iran; 4 School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, I. R. Iran Summary. Background: Primary dysmenorrhea is painful contractions of the lower abdomen without ab- normal pelvic pathology. Aims: Because high prevalence of dysmenorrhea and its efects on women ’ s social activities, the purpose of this study was to investigate the efects of separate and concurrent supplementation of n-3 fatty acid and Rosa damascene extract (RDE) on primary dysmenorrhea complaints. Study design: Double blind clinical trial. Methods: In this study, 120 university students were randomly allocated with equal size into two groups [Fish oil (FO) Factor groups: one with one-gram soft gel capsule of fsh oil (60) and other without it (60)], then each group was randomly allocated with equal size into two groups (RDE Factor groups: one with one-gram capsules of RDE (30) and other without it (30)), for 2 months. And all data was measured three times in these four groups, at the beginning of the study 30th day and 60th day. Pain intensity and quantity of bleeding were measured by visual analog scale (VAS), Higham Pictorial blood loss assessment charts methods respectively. Results: After 2 months treatment, pain intensity was decreased signifcantly in FO (p=0.02), and RDE (p<0.01) groups but remained high among those who received both of FO and RDE (p=0.27). Reduction of bleeding days was signifcant (p<0.01) with separate supplementation of FO and RDE but concurrent use of them has no signifcant efect (p=0.75) on bleeding duration. Te amount of bleeding does not changed signifcantly in any groups. Conclusion: Our results suggest, omega-3 fatty acids and RDE separately have analgesic efect on pain severity and can decrease bleeding duration of dysmenor- rhea as nutritional supplements only when used separately. Key words: dysmenorrhea, Rosa, fsh oils, pain Progress in Nutrition 2017; Vol. 19, Supplement 1: 34-40 DOI: 10.23751/pn.v19i1-S.5185 © Mattioli 1885 Original article Introduction Dysmenorrhea means painful contractions of the uterus during menstruation (1). Primary dysmen- orrhea is painful contractions of the lower abdomen without abnormal pelvic pathology and secondary dys- menorrhea is pelvic pain associated with pathological conditions such as endometriosis and endomiosis (1, 2). Primary dysmenorrhea begin some hour before or simultaneously with the onset of bleeding and it take up to 72 hour associated with symptoms such as vom- iting, diarrhea, headache, fatigue and syncope (2, 3). Te prevalence of dysmenorrhea is estimated to be 45-90% in diferent communities (3). For example, it has been reported in Turkey 87.7%, in Mexico 67% (1) and in Iran, more than 70% (1, 4). Dysmenorrhea is a major cause of impaired quality of life and social activities of young women, especially if associated with symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, nausea, vomit- ing, diarrhea, irritability, chills and muscle cramps. Tese symptoms cause the person’s absence from work or school. So that about 1% of women in childbearing age will be disrupted of work for 3 days in a month because of work for that reason. Trough this way 600