Davis County Clipper | 1990-01-17 | Page 6 | Evidence Suggests Link between Caffeine and PMS

Evidence suggests link between caffeine and PMS New evidence suggests a link between be-tween too much caffeine and premenstrual syndrome (PMS). The cause of PMS is not completely understood. But the caffeine in beverages such as coffee and cola is one suspect, fingered several years ago by a study at Oregon State University. Uni-versity. Dr. Annette MacKay Rossignol, chair of OCU's Department of Public Pub-lic Health, recently studied women who indulged only in one type of caffeine drink-tea. Of Rossignol's 188 tea-drinking subjects, 52 percent experienced premenstrual symptoms including anxiety, fatigue and lender breasts. She found that women who sipped 4 12 to eight cups a day suffered almost five times the PMS symptoms symp-toms of those who drank less. Despite accumulating evidence, a cause-and-effect relationship between be-tween caffeine and PMS has not been firmly established. Factors such as a possible link between PMS and the total amount of fluids consumed must be ruled out first. "There's more than one cause of PMS--many women with severe symptoms may not even touch caffeine," caf-feine," says Rossignol. But since caffeine is not a nutrient, there's no harm in eliminating it from your diet, or cutting back your intake, she adds. The caffeine-sensitive may find relief in a few months.