Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Women's Health
Published in: BMC Women's Health 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Cardiovascular response to short-term fasting in menstrual phases in young women: an observational study

Authors: Kumiko Ohara, Yoshimitsu Okita, Katsuyasu Kouda, Tomoki Mase, Chiemi Miyawaki, Harunobu Nakamura

Published in: BMC Women's Health | Issue 1/2015

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Menstrual cycle-related symptoms are an important health issue for many women, and some may affect cardiac autonomic regulation. In the present study, we evaluated the cardiovascular and physiological stress response to 12-h short-term fasting in the menstrual phases of healthy young women.

Methods

We performed a randomized crossover study. Subjects were seven female university students (age: 22.3 ± 1.0 years). The experiments comprised four sessions: meal intake in the follicular phase, meal intake in the luteal phase, fasting in the follicular phase, and fasting in the luteal phase. All subjects participated in a total of four experimental sessions during two successive phases (follicular and luteal phase in the same menstrual cycle, or luteal phase and follicular phase in the next menstrual cycle) according to a randomized crossover design. R-R intervals were continuously recorded before and after meals, and power spectral analysis of heart rate variability was performed. Other physiological data were obtained before and 20, 40, 60, and 80 min after meal intake or after the corresponding time point of meal intake (fasting in the follicular or luteal phase).

Results

Heart rate decreased during fasting in the follicular and luteal phases. High frequency power increased during fasting in the follicular and luteal phases. In addition, salivary cortisol concentrations decreased during fasting in the luteal phase.

Conclusions

In the present study, short-term fasting resulted in higher parasympathetic activity and lower cortisol levels in the luteal phase in these young women. These results indicate a possibility to produce an anti-stress effect in the luteal phase, which may reduce menstrual symptoms.
Literature
1.
Steiner M. Premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder: guidelines for management. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2000;25:459–68.PubMedPubMedCentral
2.
Wittchen HU, Becker E, Lieb R, Krause P. Prevalence, incidence and stability of premenstrual dysphoric disorder in the community. Psychol Med. 2002;32:119–32.CrossRef
3.
Biggs WS, Demuth RH. Premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Am Fam Physician. 2011;84:918–24.PubMed
4.
5.
6.
Vos T, Flaxman AD, Naghavi M, Lozano R, Michaud C, Ezzati M, et al. Years lived with disability (YLDs) for 1160 sequelae of 289 diseases and injuries 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012;380:2163–96.CrossRefPubMed
7.
Hourani LL, Yuan H, Bray RM. Psychosocial and lifestyle correlates of premenstrual symptoms among military women. J Womens Health. 2004;13:812–21.CrossRef
8.
Angst J, Sellaro R, Merikangas KR, Endicott J. The epidemiology of perimenstrual psychological symptoms. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2001;104:110–6.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Derman O, Kanbur NO, Tokur TE, Kutluk T. Premenstrual syndrome and associated symptoms in adolescent girls. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2004;116:201–6.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Vichnin M, Freeman EW, Lin H, Hillman J, Bui S. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in adolescents: severity and impairment. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2006;19:397–402.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Duenas JL, Lete I, Bermejo R, Arbat A, Perez-Campos E, Martinez-Salmean J, et al. Prevalence of premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder in a representative cohort of Spanish women of fertile age. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2011;156:72–7.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Wong LP, Khoo EM. Dysmenorrhea in a multiethnic population of adolescent Asian girls. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2010;108:139–42.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Bakhshani NM, Mousavi MN, Khodabandeh G. Prevalence and severity of premenstrual symptoms among Iranian female university students. J Pak Med Assoc. 2009;59:205–8.PubMed
14.
Fujiwara T, Nakata R. Young Japanese college students with dysmenorrhea have high frequency of irregular menstruation and premenstrual symptoms. Open Med Inform J. 2007;1:8–11.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
15.
Yamamoto K, Okazaki A, Sakamoto Y, Funatsu M. The relationship between premenstrual symptoms, menstrual pain, irregular menstrual cycles, and psychosocial stress among Japanese college students. J Physiol Anthropol. 2009;28:129–36.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Kitamura M, Takeda T, Koga S, Nagase S, Yaegashi N. Relationship between premenstrual symptoms and dysmenorrhea in Japanese high school students. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2012;15:131–3.CrossRefPubMed
17.
Iacovides S, Avidon I, Bentley A, Baker FC. Reduced quality of life when experiencing menstrual pain in women with primary dysmenorrhea. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2014;93:213–7.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Sahin S, Ozdemir K, Unsal A. Evaluation of premenstrual syndrome and quality of life in university students. J Pak Med Assoc. 2014;64:915–22.PubMed
19.
Pinar G, Colak M, Oksuz E. Premenstrual Syndrome in Turkish college students and its effects on life quality. Sex Reprod Health. 2011;2:21–7.CrossRef
20.
Lete I, Duenas JL, Serrano I, Doval JL, Martinez-Salmean J, Coll C, et al. Attitudes of Spanish women toward premenstrual symptoms, premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder: results of a nationwide survey. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2011;159:115–8.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Kleinstauber M, Witthoft M, Hiller W. Cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological interventions for premenstrual syndrome or premenstrual dysphoric disorder: a meta-analysis. J Clin Psychol Med Settings. 2012;19:308–19.CrossRefPubMed
22.
23.
Epperson CN, Steiner M, Hartlage SA, Eriksson E, Schmidt PJ, Jones I, et al. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder: evidence for a new category for DSM-5. Am J Psychiatry. 2012;169:465–75.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
24.
Rozanski A, Bairey CN, Krantz DS, Friedman J, Resser KJ, Morell M, et al. Mental stress and the induction of silent myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary artery disease. N Engl J Med. 1988;318:1005–12.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology. Heart rate variability. Standards of measurement, physiological interpretation, and clinical use. Eur Heart J. 1996;17:354–81.CrossRef
26.
Usha Rani YS, Manjunath P, Desai RD. Comparative study of heart rate variability, heart rate and blood pressure in different phases of menstrual cycle in healthy young women aged 18–22 years. J Phys Pharm Adv. 2013;3:188–92.
27.
Sato N, Miyake S, Akatsu J, Kumashiro M. Power spectral analysis of heart rate variability in healthy young women during the normal menstrual cycle. Psychosom Med. 1995;57:331–5.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Sheema UK, Sarwari KN, Malipatil BS. Influence of different phases of menstrual cycle on heart rate variability. Int J Basic Appl Med Sci. 2014;4:168–72.
29.
Yildirir A, Kabakci G, Akgul E, Tokgozoglu L, Oto A. Effects of menstrual cycle on cardiac autonomic innervation as assessed by heart rate variability. Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol. 2002;7:60–3.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Princi T, Parco S, Accardo A, Radillo O, De Seta F, Guaschino S. Parametric evaluation of heart rate variability during the menstrual cycle in young women. Biomed Sci Instrum. 2005;41:340–5.PubMed
31.
Sato N, Miyake S. Cardiovascular reactivity to mental stress: relationship with menstrual cycle and gender. J Physiol Anthropol Appl Human Sci. 2004;23:215–23.CrossRefPubMed
32.
Hirshoren N, Tzoran I, Makrienko I, Edoute Y, Plawner MM, Itskovitz-Eldor J, et al. Menstrual cycle effects on the neurohumoral and autonomic nervous systems regulating the cardiovascular system. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002;87:1569–75.CrossRefPubMed
33.
Matsumoto T, Ushiroyama T, Morimura M, Moritani T, Hayashi T, Suzuki T, et al. Autonomic nervous system activity in the late luteal phase of eumenorrheic women with premenstrual symptomatology. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 2006;27:131–9.CrossRefPubMed
34.
Kessel B. Premenstrual syndrome. Advances in diagnosis and treatment. Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am. 2000;27:625–39.CrossRefPubMed
35.
Moline ML, Zendell SM. Evaluating and managing premenstrual syndrome. Medscape Womens Health. 2000;5:1.PubMed
36.
Pellizzer AM, Straznicky NE, Lim S, Kamen PW, Krum H. Reduced dietary fat intake increases parasympathetic activity in healthy premenopausal women. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 1999;26:656–60.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Kuwahara K, Okita Y, Kouda K, Nakamura H. Effects of modern eating patterns on the cardiac autonomic nervous system in young Japanese males. J Physiol Anthropol. 2011;30:223–31.CrossRefPubMed
38.
Olson BR, Cartledge T, Sebring N, Defensor R, Nieman L. Short-term fasting affects luteinizing hormone secretory dynamics but not reproductive function in normal-weight sedentary women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1995;80:1187–93.PubMed
39.
Bergendahl M, Evans WS, Pastor C, Patel A, Iranmanesh A, Veldhuis JD. Short-term fasting suppresses leptin and (conversely) activates disorderly growth hormone secretion in midluteal phase women--a clinical research center study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1999;84:883–94.PubMed
40.
Bergendahl M, Iranmanesh A, Evans WS, Veldhuis JD. Short-term fasting selectively suppresses leptin pulse mass and 24-hour rhythmic leptin release in healthy midluteal phase women without disturbing leptin pulse frequency or its entropy control (pattern orderliness). J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2000;85:207–13.PubMed
41.
42.
Boardman A, Schlindwein FS, Rocha AP, Leite A. A study on the optimum order of autoregressive models for heart rate variability. Physiol Meas. 2002;23:325–36.CrossRefPubMed
43.
Niskanen JP, Tarvainen MP, Ranta-Aho PO, Karjalainen PA. Software for advanced HRV analysis. Comput Methods Programs Biomed. 2004;76:73–81.CrossRefPubMed
44.
Sloan RP, Shapiro PA, Bagiella E, Bigger Jr JT, Lo ES, Gorman JM. Relationships between circulating catecholamines and low frequency heart period variability as indices of cardiac sympathetic activity during mental stress. Psychosom Med. 1996;58:25–31.CrossRefPubMed
45.
Olejnik S, Algina J. Generalized eta and omega squared statistics: measures of effect size for some common research designs. Psychol Methods. 2003;8:434–47.CrossRefPubMed
46.
Cohen J. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. 2nd ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1988.
47.
48.
Herbert BM, Herbert C, Pollatos O, Weimer K, Enck P, Sauer H, et al. Effects of short-term food deprivation on interoceptive awareness, feelings and autonomic cardiac activity. Biol Psychol. 2012;89:71–9.CrossRefPubMed
49.
Chan JL, Mietus JE, Raciti PM, Goldberger AL, Mantzoros CS. Short-term fasting-induced autonomic activation and changes in catecholamine levels are not mediated by changes in leptin levels in healthy humans. Clin Endocrinol. 2007;66:49–57.
50.
Hellhammer DH, Wust S, Kudielka BM. Salivary cortisol as a biomarker in stress research. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009;34:163–71.CrossRefPubMed
51.
Kirschbaum C, Pirke KM, Hellhammer DH. The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’--a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology. 1993;28:76–81.CrossRefPubMed
52.
Nater UM, La Marca R, Florin L, Moses A, Langhans W, Koller MM, et al. Stress-induced changes in human salivary alpha-amylase activity -- associations with adrenergic activity. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2006;31:49–58.CrossRefPubMed
53.
Filaire E, Dreux B, Massart A, Nourrit B, Rama LM, Teixeira A. Salivary alpha-amylase, cortisol and chromogranin A responses to a lecture: impact of sex. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2009;106:71–7.CrossRefPubMed
54.
55.
Tanaka Y, Ishitobi Y, Maruyama Y, Kawano A, Ando T, Imanaga J, et al. Salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol responsiveness following electrical stimulation stress in panic disorder patients. Neurosci Res. 2012;73:80–4.CrossRefPubMed
56.
Kenny R, Dinan T, Cai G, Spencer SJ. Effects of mild calorie restriction on anxiety and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses to stress in the male rat. Physiol Rep. 2014;2:e00265.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
57.
Willette AA, Coe CL, Colman RJ, Bendlin BB, Kastman EK, Field AS, et al. Calorie restriction reduces psychological stress reactivity and its association with brain volume and microstructure in aged rhesus monkeys. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012;37:903–16.CrossRefPubMed
58.
Baker FC, Sassoon SA, Kahan T, Palaniappan L, Nicholas CL, Trinder J, et al. Perceived poor sleep quality in the absence of polysomnographic sleep disturbance in women with severe premenstrual syndrome. J Sleep Res. 2012;21:535–45.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Metadata
Title
Cardiovascular response to short-term fasting in menstrual phases in young women: an observational study
Authors
Kumiko Ohara
Yoshimitsu Okita
Katsuyasu Kouda
Tomoki Mase
Chiemi Miyawaki
Harunobu Nakamura
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Women's Health / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6874
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-015-0224-z

Other articles of this Issue 1/2015

BMC Women's Health 1/2015 Go to the issue

Research article

Living with constant leaking of urine and odour: thematic analysis of socio-cultural experiences of women affected by obstetric fistula in rural Tanzania

Research article

Integration of HIV and cervical cancer screening perceptions and preferences of communities in Uganda

Research article

Correlates of intimate partner violence against women during a time of rapid social transition in Rwanda: analysis of the 2005 and 2010 demographic and health surveys

Research article

Mapping the role of structural and interpersonal violence in the lives of women: implications for public health interventions and policy

Research article

Understanding the low uptake of long-acting reversible contraception by young women in Australia: a qualitative study

Research article

Smoking, poor nutrition, and sexually transmitted infections associated with pelvic inflammatory disease in remote North Queensland Indigenous communities, 1998-2005