Systematic review, 2003
Does vitamin B6 help with premenstrual syndrome?
Yes, a meta-analysis of 6 controlled trials found that vitamin B6 is effective for treating PMS.
What they did
Meta-analysis of 6 controlled clinical trials testing pyridoxine (vitamin B6) for PMS symptoms.
What they found
Results were divided into two categories. Category 1 showed relative risk of 1.18 with 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.30. Category 2 showed relative risk of 3.34 with 95% confidence interval 2.12 to 5.25. Both showed pyridoxine was more effective than control treatment.
What it means for you
Vitamin B6 appears to help PMS symptoms. However, this analysis is from 2003 and includes only 6 trials, which is a small amount of evidence. The abstract does not explain what Category 1 and Category 2 represent, which makes it difficult to understand what these results mean in practice.
6
controlled trials analyzed
1.18
relative risk Category 1 (95% CI 1.06-1.30)
3.34
relative risk Category 2 (95% CI 2.12-5.25)
About the study
- Original title
- Effectiveness of Pyridoxine in the Treatment of Premenstrual Syndrome: Meta-analysis of Controlled Trials
- Authors
- Long-Yan Lin, Li‐Hsing Ho, Ching‐Yi Lin
- Journal
- 中山醫學雜誌
- Year
- 2003
- Study design
- Systematic review
- What was tested
- Pyridoxine (vitamin B6)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.30096/csmj.200301.0006
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