Females with diabetes at increased risk for premenstrual syndrome: Study

Taiwan: In a study, published in the journal Life, the researchers noted an association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in female patients. The authors suggest that in order to prevent this bothersome disorder, healthcare providers and female patients with DM must know of possible PMS complications, decreased hyperglycemia, aggressive glycemic control, and autonomic dysfunction.

Premenstrual syndrome is a multifactorial disorder that results from hormone and autonomic imbalance. Previous studies have shown that hyperglycemia-induced insulin secretion increased progesterone secretion and progressive autonomic imbalance. Young DM patients revealed hyper sympathetic function and hypo-parasympathetic function compared with nondiabetic controls. Young female patients with DM with higher blood sugar and autonomic malfunction may be linked to PMS. However, evidence about DM in females related to PMS is lacking. 

To fill the knowledge gap as described above, Yao-Ming Huang, Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taoyuan, Taiwan, and colleagues aimed to evaluate female patients with DM who subsequently followed PMS in a retrospective cohort study. 

For this purpose, the researchers retrieved data from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. The study included female patients aged between 20 and 50 years with diabetes. They were assessed by the International Classification of Disease, 9 Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) disease code of 250. 

DM-free female patients were fourfold matched to the control group by age and disease index date. The incidence of PMS followed the index date as events was identified by the CD-9-CM disease code of 625.4. A Cox proportional regression detected the possible risk factors associated with PMS. 

After adjusting for age, other comorbidities, season, urbanization status of patients and the hospital status of visiting, DM was found to be a significant risk factor for PMS incidence with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.683 in females. 

"We noted an association between DM and PMS in female patients," the researchers wrote. "Healthcare providers and female patients with DM must be aware of possible complications of PMS, decreased hyperglycemia, aggressive glycemic control, and autonomic dysfunction to prevent this bothersome disorder." 

Reference:

Huang, Yao-Ming, et al. "Females With Diabetes Mellitus Increased the Incidence of Premenstrual Syndrome." Life (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 12, no. 6, 2022.