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Medics have named a little-known cause of painful premenstrual syndrome
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Experts have established some connection between painful premenstrual syndrome and how often a woman drinks alcohol.
Almost all women, and even some men, know about premenstrual syndrome, or PMS for short. It is hard not to notice this period: on the eve of a new monthly cycle, women abruptly change their behavior, their well-being deteriorates. Physiological and mental signs look something like this: mood becomes unstable, depression, irritability, and a constant feeling of fatigue may develop. Premenstrual syndrome does not occur in all representatives of the fairer sex, but it happens quite often. For example, in the United States, it was calculated that moderate symptoms of the syndrome regularly bother 30-40% of American women, and severe symptoms are observed in 3-8% of cases.
Apparently, the development of premenstrual syndrome is associated with many factors – both physiology and the peculiarities of the female psyche are “to blame”. According to doctors, one of these factors is alcohol consumption.
Representatives of the University of Santiago de Compostela conducted a series of studies, after which they compared the results obtained. The comparison concerned project work on studying the development of premenstrual syndrome, and experiments on the effect of alcohol on the female body. Specialists tried to understand how the experimentally obtained information compares with each other, and whether it is possible to assume the presence of a relationship. The total number of projects that were analyzed is nineteen. The total number of participants in the experiments is more than 47 thousand people.
Experts have found that the development of premenstrual syndrome and alcohol consumption are indeed linked. Thus, those women who have a positive attitude towards drinking alcoholic beverages in varying quantities suffer from the syndrome by 45% more, in contrast to those who do not perceive alcohol in principle. If a woman drinks regularly - even once, but daily - then the risk of developing PMS increases by almost 80%.
Of course, it is important to correctly trace the cause-and-effect relationship. For example, in some women, it is the consumption of alcoholic beverages that can aggravate the course of premenstrual syndrome. Other women may take a certain dose of alcohol only to muffle unpleasant symptoms. Therefore, it is a bit early to draw precise conclusions: despite the fact that about two dozen studies have already been conducted, new information is needed. It is necessary to conduct long-term observations of patients, comparing actual addictions to alcohol and psychological dynamics.
Details of the project work are described on the pages of LiveScience (https://www.livescience.com/62391-alcohol-pms.html).
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