Non-randomised trial, 1997
Do women with PMDD respond differently to bright morning light?
Yes. Women with PMDD showed a different (blunted and reversed) response to bright morning light during their symptomatic phase.
What they did
After a 2-month assessment period, researchers tested 8 women with PMDD and 5 healthy women during both their asymptomatic and symptomatic menstrual phases. They measured whether morning bright light suppressed melatonin and whether it shifted the timing of melatonin release.
What they found
Morning light suppressed melatonin similarly in both groups. However, during the symptomatic phase, PMDD women showed a different response to light timing. In 4 of 5 healthy women, morning light advanced melatonin timing, but in PMDD women it was delayed in 3 women and unchanged in 5 women.
What it means for you
Women with PMDD may have a problem with their biological clock during the second half of their cycle, but not because the pineal gland that makes melatonin is broken. Light therapy might help, but this is a very small pilot study with only 8 women.
8
PMDD women studied
5
healthy control women
4 of 5
controls with advanced timing
About the study
- Original title
- Blunted phase-shift responses to morning bright light in premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- Authors
- Parry BL, Udell C, Elliott JA et al.
- Journal
- Journal of biological rhythms
- Year
- 1997
- Study design
- Non-randomised trial
- Participants
- 8
- What was tested
- Morning bright light exposure
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1177/074873049701200506
Topics
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