Abstract
A study of the serum calcium in relation to the menstrual cycle in a group of 10 women who had dysmenorrhea was made. The cases selected were those having severe dysmenorrhea necessitating bed rest every month. Our purpose was to determine whether women having dysmenorrhea showed any significant variations in calcium level from women with normal menstrual periods.
Serum calcium determinations were made in duplicate on 10 dysmenorrhea cases twice a week for 4 consecutive weeks. The blood was drawn between 8 and 10 a. m. The determinations of serum calcium were made by one of us (E. M. G.) using the Clark-Collip 1 modification of the Kramer-Tisdall 2 method. A total of 80 readings were made.
Table I presents the range in the serum calcium and the mean of the 8 determinations for each individual in the group.
The mean low reading for the group was 10.23 mg., the mean high reading 11.01 mg., giving a mean range of 0.78 mg. In a group of women with normal menstrual periods studied by us, 3 the range was 1.15 mg. This difference in range, however, is not sufficient to be of significance.
The mean reading for the entire group was 10.57 mg. In our group of normal women we found a mean of 10.01 mg., again a difference of no significance.
Table II presents the mean serum calcium for each week of the menstrual cycle. The lowest reading of 10.49 mg. occurs in the rest period, while in the normal group, the lowest reading occurred in the menstrual week. The apparent cyclic variation in calcium levels in relation to menstruation found in the women with normal menses, with a pre-menstrual rise and post-menstrual fall in serum calcium was not observed in this group with dysmenorrhea.
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