---
title: Does St. John's Wort reduce PMS symptoms? | Niyora
description: Yes. St. John's Wort (perforan) significantly reduced physical and behavioral PMS symptoms compared to placebo in all three months of the study.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/evaluation-of-the-effect-of-perforan-hypericum-perforatum-on-premenstrual-2020/
---

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- Does St. John's Wort reduce PMS symptoms?

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.

 Moderate study design

93 students with PMS

## 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](https://doi.org/10.4103/aihb.aihb_16_20)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Other herbal medicine](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-herbal-other/)

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