PMS Guide |

Catecholamines make up the adrenal hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine, and the brain chemical dopamine. The powerful catecholamines can affect the activity of the body’s nervous system, cardiovascular system, and kidney function. Since their effects are wide-ranging, catecholamines have been researched for wa the ways in which they might generate the salt increase and fluid retention that accompany PMS.

Recent studies on catecholamines show that scientists are investigating every possible angle in their search for the causes of premenstrual syndrome, but in the end, the studies are complicated and inconclusive. Scientists are understanding though, that not all symptoms of PMS can be related to fluid retention. Headache, abdominal bloating, and breast tenderness, for example, may result from specific, localized biological processes and not from systemic sources like catecholamines.

The catecholamines, which influence the involuntary nervous system, are not under a woman’s control. She can do very little to increase or decrease them, although they do release during stress and shock. Adrenalin, which is closely related to epinephrine, will incrase during nervousness, speed up the heart rate, and prepare the body to meet a challenge. However, it is not believed that the catecholamines, although they are involved in this process, have any significance in the development of PMS.