---
title: What causes premenstrual syndrome? | Niyora
description: PMS involves problems with hormones (estrogen and progesterone) and a brain chemical called serotonin. Many factors likely contribute, not just one cause.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/premenstrual-syndrome-in-the-modern-science-2022/
---

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- What causes premenstrual syndrome?

Study, 2022

# What causes premenstrual syndrome?

PMS involves problems with hormones (estrogen and progesterone) and a brain chemical called serotonin. Many factors likely contribute, not just one cause.

 Early or limited evidence

Not applicable - this is a review of research

## What they did

This is a review of research on what causes PMS and what increases the risk of developing it.

## What they found

Several possible causes exist: hormone problems, allergies, water balance issues, overactive stress hormones, and emotional factors. Regardless of cause, hormone and brain chemical problems are always involved. Higher risk appears in people who are emotionally unstable, underweight, or do intellectual work, plus those with family history of PMS. Other risk factors include stress, previous gynecological problems, and mental illness.

## What it means for you

PMS is complex and likely caused by multiple things working together rather than one single cause. This explains why different women respond to different treatments.

## About the study

Original title PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME IN THE MODERN SCIENCE Authors Dilafruz Khasanova Journal Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) Year 2022 Study design Study What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7445125](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7445125) Original abstract

The results of a number of studies suggest that emotionally labile patients with ethnic physique, underweight, as well as women engaged in intellectual work are susceptible to PMS [6, 7] Among the risk factors for PMS are heredity, acute or chronic emo-tional stress, previous gynecological diseases, mental illness, mental and emotional stress, etc. [3, 5]. There are several theories that represent the etiopathogenetic mechanisms of PMS: hormonal, allergic, the theory of “water intoxication”, hyper adrenocortical activity and an increase in aldosterone, psychosomatic theory. However, regardless of the theoretical justification in PMS, secretion is always impaired main hormones: estrogens, progesterone, serotonin, regulating the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle [2, 3].

Reproduced under CC-BY.

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)

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