Systematic review, 2020
Does calcium help with PMS?
The evidence so far suggests calcium may be helpful: women with PMS tend to have lower blood calcium, and taking calcium supplements often improved PMS symptoms, but the review authors say stronger studies are still needed.
What they did
Researchers reviewed existing human studies on calcium and PMS, searching several databases up to January 2019. They included 14 studies in total, 8 that tested calcium as a treatment and 6 that just observed calcium levels in women, and rated study quality using standard checklists.
What they found
Most of the studies showed that women with PMS had lower calcium levels in their blood, and that taking calcium supplements significantly improved the occurrence of PMS and its related symptoms.
What it means for you
This supports a possible beneficial role for calcium in managing PMS, but the authors note that larger trials with better methods and clear dose information are needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.
14
Total studies reviewed
8
Interventional studies
6
Observational studies
About the study
- Original title
- Beneficial Role of Calcium in Premenstrual Syndrome: A Systematic Review of Current Literature
- Authors
- Arab A, Rafie N, Askari G et al.
- Journal
- International journal of preventive medicine
- Year
- 2020
- Study design
- Systematic review
- What was tested
- Calcium supplementation (in the interventional studies); calcium blood levels measured in observational studies.
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.4103/ijpvm.ijpvm_243_19
Topics
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