Study, 1979
What treatments have been tested for premenstrual syndrome?
Progesterone injections and oral progesterone-like drugs have been tested, but in controlled trials they work no better than diuretics, sedatives, or placebo. Better quality studies are needed.
What they did
The authors reviewed what was known about PMS treatments from 1965 to 1979. They compared findings from studies using progesterone (both injected and oral forms) with other treatments.
What they found
Progesterone injections of 25-100 mg daily or every other day starting from day 14 of the cycle until menstruation were claimed to help those with severe symptoms. Oral progesterone-like drugs were said to help, but one controlled trial found they were no better than a diuretic, a sedative, or a placebo. Few good quality trials have been reported since 1965.
What it means for you
By 1979, doctors had limited good evidence that any drug treatment truly helped PMS. This review shows why more and better studies were needed. The main limitation is that most studies reviewed were older and few had good controls, so the true effectiveness of treatments was unclear.
25-100 mg
progesterone injection dose
day 14
cycle day to start
About the study
- Original title
- The premenstrual syndrome
- Journal
- Drug and therapeutics bulletin
- Year
- 1979
- Study design
- Study
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1136/dtb.17.26.101
Topics
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