THE PREMENSTRUAL-SYNDROME - A BRIEF-HISTORY

This paper describes the origins and development of the modern concept of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Symptoms associated with the premenst rual phase of the menstrual cycle have been acknowledged by physicians and in the general culture for little more than 60 years, while the n otion that they define a clinical syndrome is exactly 40 years old. Th ese symptoms are experienced as being primarily psychological (with em otional, somatic and behavioural components), their aetiology is as ye t not known, their prevalence Varies widely across different cultural groups, and they appear to respond to inactive placebos as effectively as to active preparations. However, the empirical basis for PMS is un clear, and the very use of the term 'syndrome' in this context has a n umber of connotations about which at least some researchers are exceed ingly sceptical.