Randomised trial, 2021
Does ulipristal acetate (a progesterone blocker) treat PMDD?
Yes. Women taking 5 mg daily improved by 41% versus 22% on placebo. Half achieved remission with the medication compared to 21.1% on placebo.
What they did
95 women with PMDD took either 5 mg daily of ulipristal acetate or placebo during three 28-day treatment cycles. They recorded symptoms daily using a smartphone app. The main measure was change in total symptom scores.
What they found
The ulipristal acetate group improved by 41% on overall symptoms compared to 22% in the placebo group. For depression symptoms, improvement was 42% versus 22%. For anger and irritability, improvement was 47% versus 23%. Half of the ulipristal acetate group (50%) achieved remission compared to 21.1% of the placebo group. The medication did not significantly help physical symptoms.
What it means for you
This is a promising result for treating PMDD, especially mood symptoms. The main limits are that the study was relatively small and only lasted three 28-day cycles, so longer follow-up and larger studies are needed to confirm this works. The medication did not help physical symptoms as much as mood symptoms.
95
Women in study
41%
Improvement on treatment
50%
Remission rate with treatment
About the study
- Original title
- Ulipristal Acetate for Treatment of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: A Proof-of-Concept Randomized Controlled Trial
- Authors
- Comasco E, Kopp Kallner H, Bixo M et al.
- Journal
- The American journal of psychiatry
- Year
- 2021
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 95
- What was tested
- Ulipristal acetate 5 mg daily
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20030286
Topics
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