Premenstrual syndrome may be linked to high blood pressure

By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) - Women who experience moderate to severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) are significantly more likely than others to develop high blood pressure over the next 20 years, according to a new U.S. study. PMS had not been linked to high blood pressure before, but they share many risk factors and likely share several mechanisms, said lead author Dr. Elizabeth R. Bertone-Johnson of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Both conditions may involve dysfunction of the system that regulates fluid balance, blood volume and arterial constriction, Bertone-Johnson told Reuters Health by email.