Mehta Bharati
1*1 1. Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur Rajasthan, India
Abstract
Introduction: Medical undergraduates are heavily burdened by their
curriculum. The females, in addition, suffer from vivid affective or somatic premenstrual
syndrome (PMS) symptoms such as bloating, mastalgia, insomnia, fatigue, mood
swings, irritability, and depression. The
present study was proposed to attenuate the symptoms of PMS by simple lifestyle
measures like yoga and/or oral calcium.
Methods: 65
medical female students (18-22 years) with a regular menstrual cycle were asked
to self-rate their symptoms, along with
their severity, in a validated questionnaire for two consecutive menstrual
cycles. Fifty-eight students were found
to have PMS.
Twenty
girls were given yoga training (45
minutes daily, five days a week, for three months). Another group of 20 was
given oral tablets of calcium carbonate daily (500 mg, for three months) and
rest 18 girl served as control group. Data were analyzed by SPSS ver.13
software.
Results: The
yoga and calcium groups showed a significant decrease in number and severity of
premenstrual symptoms whereas in the control group there was not the
significant difference.
Conclusion: Encouraging a regular practice of yoga or
taking a tablet of calcium daily in the medical schools can decrease the
symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.