---
title: Is inflammation linked to premenstrual symptoms? | Niyora
description: Yes, high inflammation (measured as hs-CRP above 3 mg/L) was associated with mood problems, cramping, bloating, and breast pain in this study. Cross-sectional
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/the-association-of-inflammation-with-premenstrual-symptoms-2016/
---

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- Is inflammation linked to premenstrual symptoms?

Cohort study, 2016

# Is inflammation linked to premenstrual symptoms?

Yes, high inflammation (measured as hs-CRP above 3 mg/L) was associated with mood problems, cramping, bloating, and breast pain in this study. Cross-sectional design means we cannot prove inflammation causes these symptoms.

 Moderate study design

2939 midlife women in the SWAN study, racially and ethnically diverse

## What they did

Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a racially and ethnically diverse cohort of 2939 midlife women in the SWAN study. Researchers measured inflammation (hs-CRP) and grouped eight premenstrual symptoms into five categories.

## What they found

Having hs-CRP above 3 mg/L was significantly associated with mood symptoms, abdominal cramps and back pain, appetite cravings/weight gain/bloating, and breast pain. It was not associated with headaches or having three or more PMS symptoms overall.

## What it means for you

If you have high inflammation, this might explain some of your PMS symptoms and suggests anti-inflammatory treatments could help. The main limitation is that this is cross-sectional data taken at one time point, so we cannot determine whether inflammation causes PMS or results from it.

2939

women studied

>3 mg/L

hs-CRP level associated with PMS

1.40

odds ratio for cramps and back pain with high inflammation

## About the study

Original title The Association of Inflammation with Premenstrual Symptoms Authors Gold EB, Wells C, Rasor MO Journal Journal of women's health (2002) Year 2016 Study design Cohort study Participants 2,939 What was tested None (observational study measuring hs-CRP) Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2015.5529](https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2015.5529)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Appetite and food cravings](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-food-cravings/)[Bloating, breast tenderness and physical symptoms](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-physical-symptoms/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Relationships and partners](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-relationships/)

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