Study, 1990
Do women with PMS have blood sugar problems?
Probably not. Although women experienced symptoms like low blood sugar during a glucose test, these symptoms did not occur only in the second half of the cycle and did not match their typical PMS symptoms.
What they did
Eleven women with PMS underwent glucose tolerance tests at two different times - once during the late follicular phase (good time) and once during the late luteal phase (bad time). Researchers checked whether the women had blood sugar abnormalities, whether problems changed with the cycle, and whether glucose test symptoms matched their PMS symptoms.
What they found
Many women experienced symptoms like low blood sugar during the glucose test. However, these symptoms were not limited to the luteal (bad) phase and did not match the patient's typical PMS symptoms.
What it means for you
The glucose test symptoms in women with PMS do not match PMS symptoms and are not specific to the second half of the cycle. This suggests that general blood sugar problems are probably not the cause of PMS. The main limitations are the very small sample size of 11 women and no comparison group of women without PMS.
11
women studied
2
glucose tests per woman
About the study
- Original title
- Glucose tolerance testing in women with premenstrual syndrome
- Authors
- Denicoff KD, Hoban C, Grover GN et al.
- Journal
- The American journal of psychiatry
- Year
- 1990
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 11
- What was tested
- Glucose tolerance testing during two cycle phases
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1176/ajp.147.4.477