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Differences in cortisol, a stress hormone, in women with turmoil-type premenstrual symptoms
1MGH Institute of Health Professions, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Background:
A significant number of American women of childbearing age are troubled by premenstrual symptoms, but the underlying cause is not understood, resulting in inadequate therapy.
Objectives:
To use basal levels of cortisol to differentiate women with low symptom (LS) patterns of turmoil-type premenstrual symptoms from women with premenstrual symptom (PMS) patterns and from women with premenstrual magnification (PMM) patterns of turmoil-type premenstrual symptoms.
Method:
Symptom and cortisol patterns of women were monitored for three consecutive menstrual cycles. Three distinct groups of women were identified based on symptom patterns and types.
Results:
Significant differences in symptom severity among groups were observed during the follicular (F = 203; df= 2, 24; p < .0001) and luteal phases (F= 51.3; df= 2, 24; p< .0001) of the cycle. There were no statistically significant differences in cortisol among groups for the follicular phase, but there were during the luteal phase (F= 4.0; df= 2, 24; p= .03).
Conclusions:
Altered regulation of the stress axis may be involved in mediating turmoil-type PMS.