Evening primrose oil may be useful.There is tentative evidence that acupressure and acupuncture may help to reduce PMS symptoms and improve women quality of life. Prognosis
PMS is generally a stable diagnosis, with susceptible individuals experiencing the same symptoms at the same intensity near the end of each cycle for years. Treatment for specific symptoms is usually effective. Even without treatment, symptoms tend to decrease in perimenopausal women. However, those who experience PMS or PMDD are more likely to have significant symptoms associated with menopause, such as hot flashes. Epidemiology
PMS, in which mild to moderate symptoms affect some facet of the persons life, occurs in about 20 to 30% of premenopausal women; the more severe symptoms of PMDD affect 3 to 8% of premenopausal women.Among females of reproductive age living in India, the prevalence of PMS is 43%; the prevalence among adolescents is even higher. History
PMS was originally seen as an imagined disease. Women who reported its symptoms were often told it was "all in their head". Womans reproductive organs were thought to have complete control over them. Women were warned not to divert needed energy away from the uterus and ovaries. This view of limited energy very quickly ran up against a reality in 19th century America that young girls worked extremely long and hard hours in factories; newspapers in the 19th century were peppered with remedies to help in the "tyrannous processes" of the menstrual cycle. In 1873 Edward Clarke published an influential book titled Sex in Education.
By the 1980s, however, viewing PMS in a social context had begun to take place. Alternative views
Some supporters of PMS as a social construct believe PMDD and PMS to be unrelated issues: according to them, PMDD is a product of brain chemistry, and PMS is a product of a hypochondriatic culture, i.e. a culture-bound syndrome. Most studies on PMS and PMDD rely solely on self-reporting. According to sociologist Carol Tavris, Western women are socially conditioned to expect PMS or to at least know of its existence, and they, therefore, report their symptoms accordingly. The anthropologist Emily Martin argues that PMS is a cultural phenomenon that continues to grow in a positive feedback loop, and thus is a social construction that contributes to learned helplessness or convenient excuse. Tavris says that PMS is blamed as an explanation for rage or sadness. The decision to call PMDD an illness has been criticized as inappropriate medicalization. In both cases, they are referring to the emotional aspects, not the normal physical symptoms that are present. See also
Menstrual leave

References
External links

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Direct Online Health Encyclopaedia: Premenstrual syndrome (UK) at NHS
"Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) (Premenstrual Tension)" at Merck Manual