title: Effect of Royal Jelly on premenstrual syndrome among Iranian medical sciences students: a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) may have negative effects on women's health and sometimes need therapeutic non-pharmacological management.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effect of oral consumption of 1000 mg Royal Jelly capsule on premenstrual syndrome.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, which was conducted in Tehran University of Medical Sciences female dormitories between December 2011 and October 2012. The study population comprised 110 medical sciences student with PMS, whom were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. Each participant in the intervention group took one Royal jelly capsule orally per day, starting on the first day of menstruation and continued the same treatment daily throughout two consecutive menstrual cycles, while participants in the intervention group took placebo capsules as same method. The outcome measure in this study was PMS score as obtained through the Premenstrual Profile 2005.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean of personal characteristics and baseline level of the premenstrual score before intervention did not differ between groups. After two consecutive months consumption of Royal Jelly, PMS score had decreased from 23.17 ± 17.43 to 11.42 ± 14.58 (mean change: 11.75; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.31-15.19) and in Placebo, PMS score changed from 21.48 ± 16.39 to 20.27 ± 15.76 (mean change: 1.20; 95% CI: -1.69 to 4.10). Also difference between mean changes was significant (mean difference: 10.54; 95% CI: 6.10-14.98).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the study have demonstrated that 2 months consumption of Royal Jelly was effective in reducing PMS.
authors.affiliation: Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran; Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran; Research Institute for Islamic & Complementary Medicine (RICM, IUMS), Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: staavoni14@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Simin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taavoni
authors.affiliation: Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: barkhordari.f.sh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barkhordari
authors.affiliation: Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran; Research Institute for Islamic & Complementary Medicine (RICM, IUMS), Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: sidagoush@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ashrafeddin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goushegir
authors.affiliation: Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: haghani511@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haghani
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D011293:Premenstrual Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013337:Students, Medical; D055815:Young Adult; D000099219:Royal Jelly
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D000099219:Royal Jelly
keywords: Premenstrual Profile 2005; Premenstrual syndrome (PMS); Royal Jelly