Pharmacological rationale for the management of PMS

Abstract

Since the original definition of the premenstrual syndrome as a distinct entity,¹ an extremely wide variety of treatments have been proposed. This may reflect the lack of characteristics specific to PMS, apart from the cyclical timing of the occurrence of symptoms in the second half of the menstrual cycle. The purpose of this paper is not to review the lengthy, and at times bizarre, list of treatments that heve been used in the past, but to discuss the main modern methods which have been scientifically assessed or are currently under investigation.