---
title: Is premenstrual syndrome inherited? | Niyora
description: Yes. Genes control about 95% of PMS risk while environment controls only 5%. Identical twins are much more likely to both have PMS (81% match) than fraternal
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/the-heritability-of-premenstrual-syndrome-2011/
---

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- Is premenstrual syndrome inherited?

Survey study, 2011

# Is premenstrual syndrome inherited?

Yes. Genes control about 95% of PMS risk while environment controls only 5%. Identical twins are much more likely to both have PMS (81% match) than fraternal twins (67% match), showing a strong genetic effect.

 Moderate study design

176 same-gender twins and 17 women from opposite-sex twin pairs

## What they did

Cross-sectional study of 176 same-gender twins and 17 women from opposite-sex twin pairs. Researchers measured whether women had PMS and used genetic modeling to calculate how much genes versus environment contributed.

## What they found

PMS prevalence was 43.0% in identical twins and 46.8% in fraternal twins. Twin concordance for PMS was 0.81 in identical twins versus 0.67 in fraternal twins. Genetic modeling showed 95% of the difference was genetic and 5% was unique environment. No association was found with birth weight, breastfeeding, vaccination, or being in an opposite-sex twin pair.

## What it means for you

If your twin has PMS, you are very likely to have it too because genes are the main driver. This does not mean lifestyle makes no difference, but genes determine most of the risk. The study is limited to twins and does not identify which genes matter or how they work.

95%

genetic contribution to PMS

0.81

concordance rate in identical twins

43.0%

PMS prevalence in identical twins

## About the study

Original title The heritability of premenstrual syndrome Authors Jahanfar S, Lye MS, Krishnarajah IS Journal Twin research and human genetics : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies Year 2011 Study design Survey study Participants 176 What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1375/twin.14.5.433](https://doi.org/10.1375/twin.14.5.433)

## Topics

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

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