---
title: Does the menstrual cycle affect how well someone breathes? | Niyora
description: No, in this study of healthy women without asthma, the menstrual cycle had little effect on lung function. Breathing varied randomly throughout the cycle and
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/peak-expiratory-flow-rate-and-premenstrual-symptoms-in-healthy-nonasthmatic-2000/
---

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- Does the menstrual cycle affect how well someone breathes?

Cohort study, 2000

# Does the menstrual cycle affect how well someone breathes?

No, in this study of healthy women without asthma, the menstrual cycle had little effect on lung function. Breathing varied randomly throughout the cycle and was not related to premenstrual symptoms.

 Moderate study design

31 healthy female pharmacy students, mean age 22.1, mostly of Asian descent

## What they did

Thirty-one healthy women with an average age of 22 measured their breathing (peak expiratory flow) every morning and evening for at least one menstrual cycle. They also rated 15 premenstrual symptoms daily on a scale of 0-3.

## What they found

Over half the women (58.1%) had typical premenstrual symptoms, but peak expiratory flow varied randomly throughout the cycle with minimal variation (4.17% in the morning, 3.97% in the evening). Only 11.3% of the 124 comparisons between breathing and symptoms showed statistical significance.

## What it means for you

The menstrual cycle does not significantly affect breathing in healthy nonasthmatic women. The main limit is this was a small study of mostly young Asian women (28 of 31), so results may not apply to all groups.

31

women who completed the study

58.1%

had classic premenstrual symptoms

11.3%

of correlations were significant

## About the study

Original title Peak expiratory flow rate and premenstrual symptoms in healthy nonasthmatic women Authors Chong E, Ensom MH Journal Pharmacotherapy Year 2000 Study design Cohort study Read the paper [doi.org/10.1592/phco.20.19.1409.34857](https://doi.org/10.1592/phco.20.19.1409.34857)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Irritability and anger](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-irritability-anger/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)

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