A survey of over 200 women with Parkinson's Disease showed that 74% of the 147 women who were still having menstrual periods experienced worsening of their symptoms around menstruation with 86% reporting that their symptoms got worse in the week prior to their menstrual bleed (https://www.pdavengers.com/blog/women-and-pd).
You might think estrogen only affects our ovaries. But estrogen affects other parts of our bodies including our brain. Throughout the different stages of life, from menarche to menopause, women experience dramatic fluctuations in the levels of progesterone and estrogen amongst other sex hormones. These fluctuations affect the body as a whole, including the brain.
"We are used to thinking of sex hormones as important for fertility and reproduction, but hormones also play crucial roles in brain health." Lisa Mosconi, director of the Women's Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, Author of "The XX Brain
It is thought that the level of estrogen during the different phases of the menstrual cycle may affect the neurotransmitter dopamine which is involved in Parkinson's.
To learn more about how Parkinson's & the menstrual cycle, we have developed an e-book that answers many questions you have not have answered to date. There is also a tracker that you can use to validate what you are experiencing. You can bring the ebook and the tracker to discuss what your neurologist can do to help you.
