WOMEN with a severe form of premenstrual syndrome aren’t 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’t rise in response to stress,
says Girdler in a forthcoming issue of Biological Psychiatry. And she…
