Katharina Dalton

Katharina Dalton (11 November 1916 – 17 September 2004) was a British physician and pioneer in the research of premenstrual stress syndrome. It is said that she coined the term for the syndrome.

Dalton began her career studying at the London Foot Hospital as a podiatrist. After her first husband died in World War II, Dalton decided to switch careers in the medical field, and eventually obtained a medical degree at the Royal Free Hospital.

Dr. Katharina Dalton, a British gynecologist who did early work establishing a link between fluctuations in the menstrual cycle and changes in behavior and who advocated using progesterone to treat premenstrual syndrome, died on 17 September 2004 in Britain. She was 87.

The Neuroendocrinology Letters No. 3, June Vol. 25, 2004 includes an article "In Memory of Dr. Katharina Dalton".

In the early 1950s, Dr. Dalton led pioneering studies of premenstrual syndrome, challenging the widely accepted view that the condition was a figment of the imagination. She led one of the first clinics to specifically treat the symptoms, at University College Hospital in London.

Dr. Dalton became involved in the treatment of PMS in 1948, when, as a pregnant 32-year-old medical student, she realized her monthly migraine headaches had disappeared. Consulting with endocrinologist Dr. Raymond Greene, she concluded that the headaches could be attributed to a deficiency in the hormone progesterone, which drops before menstruation but soars during pregnancy. After further clinical study, Dr. Dalton, along with Greene, published the theory in British medical journals in 1953—first using the term "premenstrual syndrome," or PMS.

Dr. Dalton, who treated numerous women after setting up her own practice, concluded that PMS was a cyclical hormonal illness occurring in the 14 days following ovulation, with the most severe symptoms evident during the final four days before menstruation. In direct conflict with the views of many of her male colleagues, Dr. Dalton said the symptoms were more physical than psychological and included migraine headaches, asthma, epilepsy, skin lesions, irritability, fatigue, and depression.

In addition to her patients, she studied teenage schoolgirls, the mothers of abused children and women confined to prison for serious crimes, including murder. Her research showed that during times of severe PMS, students' academic performance dipped and women were more likely to abuse their children or commit crimes. From historic anecdotes, she even concluded that Queen Victoria suffered from PMS, as indicated by reports of her monthly screaming and throwing objects at her husband, Prince Albert.

She is largely credited with developing the use of menstrual charts for the diagnosis of the disorder, and argued that the timing of PMS in women was associated with higher rates of suicide attempts, alcohol abuse and violent crimes. PMS, Dr. Dalton argued, was brought on primarily by deficiencies of progesterone and could be alleviated with hormone therapy. She also believed that the hormone could be used to ease postnatal depression. But today most experts disagree with those findings and instead rely on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or S.S.R.I.'s, and other medications for the treatment of PMS.

Born in 1916 in London, Katharina Kuipers Dalton began her career as a podiatrist after studying at the London Foot Hospital. After her first husband died during World War II, she decided to switch careers and earned a medical degree at the Royal Free Hospital.

In later work, Dr. Dalton helped demonstrate that depression and other disorders could be aggravated by PMS, particularly around the last few days of the menstrual cycle or the first days of menstruation.

Her books include: Once a Month: The Original Premenstrual Syndrome Handbook (1978) which became a best seller, and Depression after Childbirth: How to Recognize, Treat, and Prevent Postnatal Depression.

Personal Life

Her grandson is the British MEP Daniel Dalton.

References

• The Times' obituary: Dr Katharina Dalton
• [2] NY Times obituary for Dr. Katharina Dalton
• [3] Los Angeles Times obituary for Dr. Katharina Dalton
• [4] "In Memory: Dr. Katharina Dalton