Abstract
The therapeutic effects of GLA containing oil in the relief of symptoms associated with PMS were studied. In a randomized and placebo-controlled trial, we studied 54 women between 20〜37 years of age who were diagnosed with PMS over three menstrual cycles. The women recorded their premenstrual symptoms before and during the trial every day, using the "PMS memory of the Japanese family planning association". The edible oil mixture adjusted to the S:M:P ratio was used as a control standard. Based on the frequency and the severity of the PMS symptoms before and during the trial, GLA treatment tended to reduce frequency and alleviate the symptoms, especially physical symptoms, better than a placebo did. More patients (64.4%) reported improvement in their sum of the PMS symptoms during GLA treatment as compared to placebo treatment (53.5%). This difference was statistically significant. As to individual symptoms, "Abdominal bloating", "Headache", "Sharpened appetite" and "Constipation" tended to be alleviated more frequently by the GLA treatment These results suggested that GLA containing oil was effective in alleviating some of the PMS symptoms.
