HORMONAL TREATMENTS FOR PREMENSTRUAL-SYNDROME

Ovarian function appears to play a fundamental role in premenstrual sy ndrome (PMS). Accordingly treatment strategies designed to suppress ov ulation have generally been found to be effective for treatment of men strually related syndromes and symptoms. GnRH agonists and Danazol(R) are probably inferior to estrogen, due to their unfavorable side effec ts profile. In addition, it is worthwhile to emphasize that in spite o f the publicity of progesterone treatment for PMS, in most well-contro lled studies it has not been shown to be more effective than placebo f or the treatment of these syndromes. The efficacy of hormonal treatmen ts that do not suppress ovulation is still controversial. (C) 1998 Pro us Science. All rights reserved.