Biomarker development for menstrual Cycle affective change: the need for greater temporal, mechanistic, and phenotypic specificity.

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of the menstrual cycle on mood and psychiatric conditions, focusing on the need for specific biomarkers for menstrual cycle affective change.

The menstrual cycle is known to affect things like mood and changes in pain. But there can also be symptoms that have a serious impact on a person’s function, ability to work, ability to maintain friendships and romantic relationships. This is a rare condition known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder. But it’s not the only psychiatric condition that can worsen with changes in the menstrual cycle. For instance, nearly 60 percent of menstruating patients with depression can experience cyclical worsening similar to PMDD. Conditions such as these are generally referred to as menstrual cycle affective change. Menstrual cycle affective change is more common in those with chronic psychiatric disorders.   The authors are interested in reframing the conversation around menstrual cycle affective change to be something that is a more fundamental process that we can study across disorders, across categories, and identify biomarkers that might help us predict who's going to have those symptoms in more complex ways than we might be able to do with categories. This paper represents how can we take this dimensional way of thinking about menstrual cycle affective change and talk about…

People in this episode

Guest: Tory Eisenlohr-Moul

Topics covered

• menstrual cycle
• affective change
• premenstrual dysphoric disorder
• psychiatric conditions
• biomarker development

Keywords

• menstrual cycle
• mood changes
• premenstrual dysphoric disorder
• psychiatric disorders
• biomarkers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Illinois at Chicago

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