Cyclic Variations in Pulse Rate in Women and Their Relationship to the Menstrual Cycle.

Abstract

The daily pulse rates of 7 women observed over periods of 2 to 13 months vary with each phase of the menstrual cycle and in no case show a static norm.

The pulse rate progressively increases during the phase of the cycle representative of the greatest activity (glandular and otherwise) of the genital tract; i. e., from the end of the 1st to the end of the 3rd week of the menstrual cycle. It progressively decreases during the following 2 weeks of lessened activity, the lowest point being reached near the end of or after the completion of menstruation.

The rhythm in pulse rate shows a significant resemblance to the rhythm in the primary events of the menstrual cycle.

The rhythm can be statistically shown: (1) by a simple smoothing process by which daily fluctuations are eliminated if the readings are continuous, or by a combined compositing and smoothing method if discontinuous; (2) by a method which gives the significance of the difference between the low and the high values in the rhythm.

The above is a summary of the material described in a manuscript completed by Professor Moore before her death. In order to make the results of these investigations available the manuscript, with charts, has been placed on file in the University of California Library, Berkeley. A copy of the manuscript will be loaned upon application to the library.