Premenstrual syndrome could be a risk factor for developing high blood pressure in the future, a new study finds.
It’s estimated that up to 15 percent of women experience moderate-to-severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS), which includes such symptoms as palpitations, nausea, forgetfulness, dizziness, hot flashes, insomnia, depression, acne and cramping.
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts and the Harvard School of Public Health evaluated the relationship between PMS and high blood pressure in 1257 women with the condition and 2,463 age-matched women with few menstrual symptoms.
They found that those women with PMS had a 40 percent higher risk of developing high blood pressure during the 20-year follow-up period.
The correlation was strongest for women under 40. In this group, those with PMS had a three-fold likelihood of developing high blood pressure compared to their older counterparts, the study also found.
This higher risk persisted even after adjusting for known high blood pressure risk factors including body mass index, pack-years of cigarette smoking, physical activity, alcohol use, postmenopausal hormone use, oral contraceptive use and family history of hypertension, the authors stated.
It was not present, however, in women with high intakes of the B vitamins thiamine and riboflavin. The researchers had previously found that women with high dietary intake of the B vitamins thiamine and riboflavin had 25 to 35 percent lower risks of developing PMS.
The research, which is believed to be the first large study to look at the relationship between PMS and chronic health conditions later in life, appears in the American Journal of Epidemiology.