Randomised trial, 2020
Does St. John's Wort reduce PMS symptoms?
Yes. St. John's Wort (perforan) significantly reduced physical and behavioral PMS symptoms compared to placebo in all three months of the study.
What they did
Triple-blind randomized controlled trial. 93 students with PMS were randomly assigned to St. John's Wort or placebo groups. In cycle 1, participants took capsules daily for 1 month. In cycles 2 and 3, they took capsules from 8 days before menstruation to 2 days after menstruation. Symptom severity was recorded using a PMS questionnaire.
What they found
No baseline differences between groups. After intervention, the St. John's Wort group had significantly lower physical and behavioral symptom severity compared to placebo at 1, 2, and 3 months (P<0.001). Repeated measurement tests also showed significant difference between groups in decrease of PMS scores (P<0.001).
What it means for you
St. John's Wort may help reduce PMS symptoms, particularly physical and behavioral ones. The study included only 93 students in one location, so results may not apply to all women. Long-term safety and effectiveness beyond 3 months were not studied.
93
Students studied
3 cycles
Duration of follow-up
P<0.001
Significance of symptom reduction
About the study
- Original title
- Evaluation of the effect of perforan (Hypericum perforatum) on premenstrual syndrome severity of physical and behavioural symptoms in patients with premenstrual syndrome: A clinical randomised trial
- Authors
- Haniyeh Abbassinya, Nasim Khademi, Farahnaz Heshmat et al.
- Journal
- Advances in Human Biology
- Year
- 2020
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 93
- What was tested
- Perforan (St. John's Wort) capsules daily for 1 month, then 8 days before to 2 days after menstruation for 2 cycles
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.4103/aihb.aihb_16_20
Topics
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