Two-thirds of men say their wives and girlfriends suffer from pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS), a survey says.

They say they are subjected to irrational behaviour, heated arguments and unexplained floods of tears.

And the young say they are suffering the most - as many as 13% of 15 to 24-year-olds claiming they have been physically assaulted because of changes in their partner's hormonal cycle.

The survey of more than 1,000 UK men found that 44% of men say they do not treat their partners any differently despite their PMS.

Overall, 30% of men said their partner's mood swings resulted in "irrational behaviour".

As many as 25% said that the syndrome led to heated arguments and floods of tears.

Ignorance

However, the men's claims that PMS was the cause of such behaviour were somewhat undermined by their woeful lack of knowledge about the role of hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Only a third were aware that many women take HRT to relieve some of the symptoms of menopause.

And among some of the more interesting answers when asked what HRT was for, men suggested that women took it "because they want bigger breasts", "to be like a man", and "because they have too much time on their hands".

More than half of the men surveyed were unaware that a woman is most fertile halfway through her menstrual cycle.

A spokesman for the marriage guidance charity Relate said that communication difficulties were the root cause of many marital problems.

He said: "Understanding more about one another's health - particularly complex or seldom discussed issues such as hormonal changes, HRT and PMS - is important, as these can sometimes be one of the triggers to the relationship breaking down."

The survey was conducted by the health website netdoctor.co.uk.