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Study, 2024

Does a combination of evening primrose oil, tocotrienol, and vitamin B6 reduce premenstrual symptoms?

Yes. In women with PMS taking this combination for 3 months, premenstrual symptoms improved significantly. The overall PMS score dropped by 61.03%, menstrual pain dropped by 75.20%, and breast tenderness dropped by 82.54%.

Moderate study design 510 women in India aged 18 or above with regular menstrual cycles and PMS symptoms

What they did

Researchers in India enrolled 510 women aged 18 and above with regular menstrual cycles and at least one PMS symptom. All participants took a daily product combining evening primrose oil, tocotrienol (a form of vitamin E), and vitamin B6 for three months. Symptoms were measured at the start and at 90 days using standard questionnaires for PMS symptoms, menstrual pain, and breast tenderness.

What they found

The premenstrual syndrome score dropped from 134.24 at the start to 52.31 at 90 days, representing a 61.03% reduction. Menstrual pain scores dropped by 75.20%. Breast tenderness scores dropped by 82.54%. No major side effects were reported.

What it means for you

This combination supplement appears effective for reducing PMS symptoms in women living in India. The main limit is that there was no control group of women taking a placebo to compare against, and this was a real-world study based on women's reports rather than a controlled laboratory test.

510

women enrolled

61.03%

reduction in PMS symptom scores

75.20%

reduction in menstrual pain

About the study

Original title
A Real-world Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Evening primrose oil in Combination with Tocotrienol and Vitamin B6 in Women with Premenstrual Syndrome: Findings from PRIME study
Authors
Anagha Chhatrapati, Anju Johri, Hirday Kapoor et al.
Journal
International Journal of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Year
2024
Study design
Study
Participants
510
What was tested
Evening primrose oil, tocotrienol, and vitamin B6 combination taken once daily for 3 months
Open access
Yes

Topics