
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 5, 1995                   TAG: 9507060044
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

XANAX MAY EASE PMS WOES

The tranquilizer Xanax can relieve the tension, irritability and aches of severe premenstrual syndrome, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center researchers say.

Their study, published in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, also found that the hormone progesterone is not particularly effective in treating PMS, even though it has been widely prescribed for that purpose for more than a decade.

Coming on the heels of a study that found that Prozac helps severe PMS, the new research offers yet more insight into the complex hormonal and nervous system interactions that trigger the mysterious monthly malady.

``It's one more step in understanding PMS and how to treat it,'' said Ellen W. Freeman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology who led the Penn study. ``Not very long ago, there was nothing.''

While the vast majority of women suffer at least mild symptoms of PMS, such as moodiness, fatigue and food cravings, up to 10 percent of women - about six million in all - experience emotional and behavioral changes that disrupt their lives. The Penn researchers identified 170 severe sufferers and randomly assigned them to take Xanax, progesterone or a placebo.

Xanax, made by Upjohn, is known generically as alprazolam and belongs to a class of anti-anxiety drugs called benzodiazapines.

Of those taking Xanax, made by Upjohn, 37 percent reported a significant improvement in overall premenstrual symptoms, compared with 29 percent who reported relief on progesterone and 30 percent on the placebo. The improvement on Xanax was even more striking when the comparison focused on emotional, mental and certain physical symptoms, including irritability, anxiety, mood swings, fatigue, insomnia, cramps and headaches.

Clearly, Freeman said, Xanax is not a panacea for PMS. But then, neither is Prozac. The popular antidepressant failed to relieve symptoms for almost half the severe PMS sufferers who were studied previously by researchers in Canada.

For some women, Xanax may offer advantages over Prozac, Freeman said. Xanax proved effective when taken for about two weeks of the month; Prozac, in contrast, was taken every day. Xanax also has relatively mild side effects.

Xanax is known to cause dependency when taken for long periods.

by CNB