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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Posted by PMSGuide.net | Under PMS
New studies have linked PMS to an oversupply of renin, angiotensin, aldosterone – adrenal hormones that are collectively called the aldosterone system. Estrogen incrases the level of adrenal hormones present in the bloodstream, and an estrogen-induced aldosterone surge prevents the normal excretion of salt from the kidneys. This salt buildup then leads to fluid retention. Progesterone, on the other hand, reduces renin, angiostensin, and aldosterone and thereby activates salt excretion. In this instance, progesterone acts like a diuretic. A woman’s body is carefully synchcronized. If estrogen and progesterone are perfect balance, she will experience less water retention. and possibly PMS.
Women with PMS are occasionally found to have high aldosterone levels in their urine. but the aldosterone levels in their blood are bnot significantly different from those of women without PMS. It has been theorized that the high level of urinary aldosterone may be linked to the fluctuation of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone, or may be result of stress, since anxiety affects aldosterone excretion. This latter fact about stress brings us back to the power of the brain.
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