PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME AND HOMOEOPATHY: BRIDGING TRADITIONAL PRINCIPLES WITH CONTEMPORARY SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is a cyclical cluster of Emotional, Physical and Behavioural symptoms affecting a large share of menstruating women, with a severe form, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), affecting a smaller minority. Many women seek Homoeopathic care, drawing on principles of Similarity,Individualisation and Potentization. This report asks whether those traditional principles are supported by contemporary clinical evidence in PMS. A structured narrative review was undertaken of epidemiological sources, systematic reviews, randomised trials, observational studies and regulatory evidence summaries, and key published figures were tabulated and charted. The findings show that PMS is common (pooled prevalence about 47.8%) and that conventional options such as SSRIs and Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy have the strongest evidence. For Homoeopathy, the evidence base is small and heterogeneous: one double-blind trial (n = 105) reported a statistically significant but borderline advantage over placebo (p = 0.043; 35.2% vs 20.2% symptom-score reduction), while a University of Johannesburg review found six of seven studies positive but of mixed quality. Plausibility concerns, high placebo response and small samples limit confidence. The report concludes that Homoeopathy cannot yet be recommended as a stand-alone treatment for moderate to severe PMS or PMDD, and proposes a research agenda.