Variations in Body-weight of Young Women during the Menstrual Cycle.

Variations in body-weight during the menstrual cycle have been studied by a number of workers, with conflicting results. The existence of an increase in weight during the premenstrual phase in some or all of the subjects, followed by a decrease during or after menstruation, has been claimed by some (Thomas, 1933; Okey & Stewart, 1932-3; Sweeney, 1934; Thorn, Nelson & Thorn, 1938; Morton, 1950; Thomas, 1953; Fortin, Whittkower & Kalz, 1958; Bruce & Russell, 1962), but not confirmed by others (Klein & Carey, 1957; Chesley & Hellman, 1957; Taggart, 1962). Many of these studies are not comparable in respect to subjects, experimental procedures or analyses of results. Some of the subjects suffered from the symptoms of premenstrual tension (Morton, 1950; Bickers & Woods, 1951), some were patients in a psychiatric hospital (Bruce & Russell, 1962), and other groups were not homogeneous as regards occupations, living conditions or eating habits. The procedure for weighing was often not standardized (Robinson & Watson, 1965), but three studies have been performed using metabolic balance techniques. Thorn et al. (1938) found a weight increase in four of six women in the premenstrual phase. Bruce & Russell (1962) studied ten women for 4-9 weeks and found a weight increase in seven of the thirteen cycles, in the last 4-5 days before menstruation. Taggart (1962) studied in detail water and calorie balances in one subject and obtained no relationship between the menstrual cycle and the changes in body-weight, food intake and water balance. The day-to-day fluctuations of body-weight in twenty-eight young women showed some consistency in their relation to the menstrual cycle (Robinson &Watson, 1965). This association has now been followed further by considering the results for their forty-eight completed menstrual cycles. Analyses of the cycles together revealed an underlying rhythmic pattern of body-weight in time with the menstrual cycle. Successive cycles in any given subject, however, showed notable dissimilarities.