WOMEN with a severe form of premenstrual syndrome aren鈥檛 responding properly
to stress, say researchers.
A team led by psychologist Susan Girdler at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill studied levels of the hormone allopregnanolone, or ALLO, in women
with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a condition that can make women suicidally
depressed and anxious. ALLO is produced by progesterone, which peaks in the two
weeks before a period starts. It also acts as a natural antidepressant.
But ALLO levels in premenstrual sufferers didn鈥檛 rise in response to stress,
says Girdler in a forthcoming issue of Biological Psychiatry. And she suspects
they may be desensitised to the chemical anyway. She hopes that drugs targeting
ALLO metabolism might one day help these women get back to normal.
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