Study, 1993
Do women with PMS have different hormone levels during their menstrual cycle?
Overall, hormone levels are similar in women with and without PMS, but the peak of progesterone happens later in women with PMS.
What they did
65 women with PMS and 18 women without PMS collected all their urine every day for one complete menstrual cycle. Researchers measured the hormones estrogen and pregnanediol (a breakdown product of progesterone) in the urine.
What they found
Hormone levels overall were similar between the two groups. However, the peak of pregnanediol happened later in women with PMS compared to women without PMS. The menstrual cycle was also shorter for women without PMS.
What it means for you
There was no evidence that women with PMS have low progesterone levels. However, the delayed timing of the progesterone peak might be important. The study only measured one cycle, and the control group was small, so more research is needed.
65
Women with PMS
18
Women without PMS
About the study
- Original title
- Menstrual cycle hormonal profiles of women with and without premenstrual syndrome
- Authors
- Dennerstein L, Brown JB, Gotts G et al.
- Journal
- Journal of psychosomatic obstetrics and gynaecology
- Year
- 1993
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 65
- What was tested
- None - observational
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.3109/01674829309084449
Topics
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