The PMS Solution: Premenstrual Syndrome: The Nutritional Approach

Ingrid conHausen was a librarian in New Hamburg, Ontario.

Nazzaro has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, and Lombard and Horrobin are both doctors of medicine. Nazzaro and Lombard work at a clinic in Massachusetts while Horrobin does medical research in Montreal.

This attractive paperback offers its readers a mainly nutritional program in order to overcome premenstrual syndrome. The authors first outline the myriad symptoms and treatments that women who suffer this syndrome may endure. In a chapter called “The Prostaglandin Connection,” complex hormonal interactions are explained. Horrobin’s research in this area is touched upon. The next sections of the book detail the program Nazzaro and Lombard have used with some success. There are many charts, an extensive self-evaluation quiz, and instructions to encourage self-help.

The program relies heavily on primrose oil as well as varying amounts, even mega-doses, of vitamins. It is recommended that the program be undertaken under the supervision of a sympathetic doctor, one who recognizes the existence of PMS.

The authors stress over and over again the important point that PMS is a medical problem, for many women a very serious one, and that it should be treated medically. Though readers may react sceptically to the program, this book is invaluable in offering more information on this problem for the literate layperson, as well as for health professionals. The authors do not offer a miracle cure, but they do suggest that some considerable improvement should be experienced using this program. As the program is not invasive or overly expensive and is probably safer than much medical treatment, sufferers can certainly be encouraged to consider this treatment before undertaking more invasive and more dangerous therapies.

This reviewer, though not qualified in medicine, was disturbed by the heavy emphasis on one product, primrose oil, and the repeated suggestion of the many problems attributed to one cause — “yeast overgrowth.” It should also be emphasized that PMS is still in the early study stage and much more research on its etiology and treatment is badly needed. With these reservations in mind, desperate sufferers should consider the program with reliable medical guidance and an open mind.