Survey study, 2012
Can a saliva test show menstrual stress?
Possibly. The study found that levels of progesterone and amylase in saliva showed a relationship with menstrual distress and premenstrual symptoms, suggesting saliva tests might be useful for tracking menstrual stress.
What they did
Researchers tested saliva from 28 women to measure their hormones and stress chemicals, and compared these to a questionnaire about menstrual symptoms.
What they found
Progesterone levels in saliva after menstruation were related to distress reported during the premenstrual and menstrual phases. Saliva amylase (a measure of stress activity) during the night of the premenstrual phase was related to premenstrual, menstrual, and postmenstrual symptom scores.
What it means for you
Saliva testing might be a non-invasive way to monitor menstrual stress in the future. The main limit is the small sample size (28 women), and this was just showing a relationship, not proving that saliva tests actually predict symptoms or help manage them.
28
women studied
33.4 years
average age of women
About the study
- Original title
- Evaluation of Stress on Menstrual Cycle Using Salivary Amylase Activity
- Authors
- Asami Nakagawa, Makoto SASAKI, Masaki Yamaguchi
- Journal
- Journal of Life Support Engineering
- Year
- 2012
- Study design
- Survey study
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.5136/lifesupport.24.123