Kampo therapy for premenstrual syndrome: efficacy of Kamishoyosan quantified using the second derivative of the fingertip photoplethysmogram.

Aim: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) affects 40-80% of women. Japanese herbal medicine, known as Kampo, is frequently prescribed for PMS, so we examined the efficacy of Kamishoyosan using two methods: first, the second derivative of the fingertip photoplethysmogram (SDPTG) evaluating vascular age (VA), and second, a self-assessment questionnaire on subjective symptoms.

Methods: The SDPTG was recorded in 45 patients with PMS (mean +/- SD = 32 +/- 6 years of age) before (0 M), on the first (1 M) and third (3 M) month of therapy. Patients answered a questionnaire (44 questions) on their complaints every month. The reproducibility of the SDPTG was confirmed with 15 normal volunteers (33 +/- 9 years of age).

Results: In patients with older VA than their chronological age (Age) before therapy, we found linear correlations of the VA-Age differences at 1 M versus 0 M (y = 0.45x + 1.59, standard error of estimate [SEE] = 6.13 years), and at 3 M versus 0 M (y = 0.18x + 4.09, SEE = 6.03 years). The VA-Age decreased from 11.3 +/- 6.4 (0 M) to 6.6 +/- 6.7 (1 M) and 6.1 +/- 6.0 years (3 M) (P < 0.01). The score on the self-assessment questionnaires for the five most frequent symptoms significantly improved from 13.4 +/- 3.3 (0 M) of 20 to 10.7 +/- 3.9 (1 M) and 8.2 +/- 4.6 (3 M) (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: The improvement of PMS symptoms as a result of using Kamishoyosan was quantified by means of SDPTG and the self-assessment questionnaire.