Posted by PMSGuide.net | Under PMS
A woman may suffer premenstrual syndrome in combination with menstrual cramps, or she may experience either condition alone. However, she should try not to confuse the two because, first of all, they spring from different sources.
Scientists recently discovered that cramp-causing, hormone-like substances called prostaglandins, which are produced in many tissues of the body, are significantly present in the lining of the uterus. Women who have excruciating menstrual cramps have been found to have more prostaglandins than women who were less bothered. PMS, on the other hand, is never mentioned in connection with prostaglandins. Premenstrual syndrome had been linked to hormonal imbalances and changes in interactions between brain hormones and the body’s neuroendocrine system.
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Posted by PMSGuide.net | Under PMS
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.
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Posted by PMSGuide.net | Under PMS
Since the early seventies, scientists have thought that the brain hormone prolactin might affect premenstrual syndrome, and for years they have been trying to uncover a connection between the hormone and the condition. They discovered that prolactin fluctuates from day to day but consistently peaks when a woman ovulates and remains higher in the second half of her menstrual cycle than in the first half.
Since there was some belief that prolactin might be responsible for fluid retention, studies were done to determine whether edema could be reduced when prolactin was suppressed by the drug bromocriptine. Results have been very confusing since bromocriptine was found to be effective in some cases, ineffective in others, and occasionally even detrimental. Dues to these conflicting results, some researchers have suggested that prolactin may play more of a part in psychological symptoms, in the depression and mood swings of PMS, than fluid retention.
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