Study, 1987
What causes PMDD and what is the best treatment?
The exact cause is unknown and no single treatment has been shown to clearly beat placebo in controlled studies. The condition involves hormone cycling, but doctors do not fully understand the mechanism.
What they did
This is a review of existing research on PMDD, examining what causes it, how to diagnose it, and how to treat it.
What they found
PMDD affects a small percentage of women, who experience severe mood disturbance before their period that improves after bleeding starts and causes significant problems in daily life. The exact cause is not known. Most treatments seem to help in uncontrolled trials, but no single drug is clearly better than placebo in controlled studies. Stopping ovulation relieves symptoms but potential risks have not been clarified.
What it means for you
PMDD is a real condition that needs to be distinguished from regular PMS, but doctors do not yet understand exactly what causes it or which treatment works best. Current treatments are not clearly proven effective. The main limits are this is a review of other research, not new research, and many of the studies reviewed had problems with how they were designed.
2
menstrual cycles minimum for diagnosis
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual dysphoric disorder: evaluation, pathophysiology and treatment
- Authors
- Haskett RF
- Journal
- Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
- Year
- 1987
- Study design
- Study
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/0278-5846(87)90050-9
Topics
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