---
title: Does how women's body responds to stress change during the menstrual cycle?
description: Yes. Women showed stronger heart and blood vessel responses to stress in the luteal phase compared to other times. Adrenaline levels were also higher in the l
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/mechanisms-underlying-hemodynamic-and-neuroendocrine-stress-reactivity-at-2014/
---

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- Does how women's body responds to stress change during the menstrual cycle?

Survey study, 2014

# Does how women's body responds to stress change during the menstrual cycle?

Yes. Women showed stronger heart and blood vessel responses to stress in the luteal phase compared to other times. Adrenaline levels were also higher in the late follicular and luteal phases, and these hormone changes appeared to drive the physical responses.

 Moderate study design

57 women

## What they did

57 women gave a stressful speech during three different phases of their menstrual cycle: early follicular, late follicular, and luteal. Researchers measured how their hearts responded and checked levels of adrenaline and estrogen.

## What they found

During the luteal phase, women's hearts pumped stronger and their blood vessels responded more dramatically to the stress task. Adrenaline levels increased more in the late follicular and luteal phases than in the early follicular phase. Estrogen and adrenaline levels predicted how strongly each woman's body responded physically.

## What it means for you

Hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle affect how a woman's body reacts to stress. Changes in adrenaline levels may be more important than estrogen itself in driving these responses. However, the study was done in a single lab setting, so stress responses in everyday life may be different.

57

women in the study

3

menstrual cycle phases tested

## About the study

Original title Mechanisms underlying hemodynamic and neuroendocrine stress reactivity at different phases of the menstrual cycle Authors Gordon JL, Girdler SS Journal Psychophysiology Year 2014 Study design Survey study What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12177](https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12177)

## Topics

[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)

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