Premenstrual symptoms and ovarian hormones: A review

Abstract

Many women experience cyclical changes in well-being. In a small proportion cyclicallyoccurring negative changes are serious enough to interfere with daily activities and have bewme known as the premenstrual syndrome (PMS). The belief that the aetiology of premenstrual symptoms is ultimately hormonal, even if mediated through someother mechanism, has been a long-standing one in the literature on the subject. The area of research is reviewed, highlighting the problem of data interpretation. Methodological inconsistencies are common, for instance, variations in the definition and diagnosis of PMS and the endocrinological parameters assessed. This review suggests that the timing of any degree of premenstrual change is related to the ovarian cycle. However, the severity of symptoms experienced, which distinguishes the woman with PMS from one without the syndrome, does not appear to be related to any hormonal parameter so far assessed. Further investigations of the psychology of the menstrual cycle are needed before the aetiology of PMS will be determined.

Optimism, social support, and premenstrual dysphoria

“…This means that optimism only accounted for only 4% of the variance, and hence the major portion of the variance in the dysphoria scale remains to be explained. However, this is not surprising in light of the fact that menstrual-related symptoms are thought to be influenced by a myriad of biopsychosocial factors (Walker, 1992). Nonetheless, our results suggest that individual differences along the dimension of optimism versus pessimism may contribute to reduce the incidence of mood-related premenstrual symptoms.…”

“…Social support did not correlate with any premenstrual symptoms. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Premenstrual dysphoria (PMD) refers to extreme variations in women's moods and psychological states during the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle (Walker, 1992). These include: sadness, irritability, anxiety, jitteriness, and feeling blue, among others.…”

Mood and Well-Being in Consecutive Menstrual Cycles

“…The daily diary consisted of 10 unipolar, 100-mm visual analogue ratings of mood and well-being: (a) cheerful 6 happy, (b) irritable, (c) depressed (L7 unhappy, (d) energetic G active, (e) tense & anxious, ( f ) fatigued G tired, (g) breast tenderness, (h) body swelling, (i) period type pain, and (j) sexual interest, the last being an optional scale (Sanders, 1981;Walker, 1988). Each visual analogue scale was assigned a score of 0-10.…”

Psychosocial aspects of selected issues in women's reproductive health: Current status and future directions.

“…Because methodological limitations characterize much of the research, reviews indicate that little scientifically sound evidence exists for a link between menstrual cycle phase and symptomatology, particularly psychological symptoms (Klebanov & Ruble, 1994;McFarlane & Williams, 1994). Nor is there confirmation for the role of biological factors, especially hormones, in PMS (e.g., Schmidt et al, 1991;Walker, 1992), although serotonergic dysregulation now is receiving attention (e.g., Rapkin, 1992). 1 We review major topics in PMS below.…”