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Article: Tranquilizer Reduces PMS Symptoms; Study Challenges Use of Progesterone to Treat Premenstrual Condition
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 5, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Researchers have found that a common tranquilizer is
"significantly better" than the most familiar treatment for severe
premenstrual syndrome.
Compared with patients taking progesterone -- a female hormone
widely prescribed for the 2 percent to 10 percent of women who
experience severe PMS -- and with patients given a placebo, those
treated with alprazolam (perhaps best known by its brand name Xanax)
reported much greater improvement in symptoms.
By contrast, Philadelphia researchers report in today's issue of
the Journal of the American Medical Association, "progesterone was
ineffective in reducing the overall symptom distress of PMS,
producing no greater degree of improvement than placebo."