PMS Linked with 40% Increase in Risk of Hypertension

“Hypertension is among the strongest predictors of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and kidney disease in women”, said researcher Elizabeth Bertone-Johnson in the report. The researchers found that women who had more severe PMS symptoms (e.g. cramps, insomnia, dizziness, hot flashes) were 40% more likely to develop hypertension than those with mild symptoms. In the current study, these researchers wrote that their findings were “consistent with these findings, and suggest that improving B vitamin status in women with PMS may both reduce menstrual symptom severity and lower hypertension risk”.

During the study, researchers tracked over 1,250 women who developed clinically significant PMS between 1991 and 2005 and about 2,500 women with few menstrual symptoms, according to Live Science. At least 4,000 women from 27 years old formed part of the new research, of which around 1,200 reported having clinically significant symptoms of PMS. While she was not involved in this study she warrants that the findings could suggest PMS might be associated with the potential for developing hypertension in the future.

The experts found out that the blood vessels of women with PMS are different from those who don’t experience the condition, but this monthly inconvenience can actually be preventable if not avoided altogether.

Women who experience more severe symptoms of premenstrual syndrome – commonly referred to as PMS – may have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure later on in life, a new study suggests. Their study showed that, for women who have these nutrients regularly, the propensity for suffering from PMS is significantly lessened or absent.

Steinbaum also lauded the study authors for helping “understand that what is happening to a woman – and [how] her entire body – is going to affect her cardiovascular risk“. So, women can start their treatment on time and can prevent them from other harmful effects related with high blood pressure.

In the study, the researchers also found that, among women with PMS, those who consumed high amounts of the B vitamins thiamine and riboflavin were less likely to develop high blood pressure later than the women with PMS who consumed low amounts of these vitamins.

Meanwhile, according to Dr. Deena Adimoolam, assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, there are many physicians who don’t consider PMS as a risk factor for hypertension and that women should not be overly concerned about this association.

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