Feminist Movement To End PMS Grows As Online Community

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mayo Clinic estimates 75 percent of menstruating women experience PMS (premenstrual syndrome), many of who experience Emotional PMS, a subset of psychological symptoms including anxiety, stress, irritability and mood swings in the weeks or days leading up to their period.

While society has been aware of Emotional PMS in some form for centuries, a new feminist movement highlights the astoundingly little resources that have been invested toward scientific inquiry of the causes and potential treatments of such a widespread condition.

"If a man arrives at a doctor's office and reports a sudden onset of anxiety, stress, irritability and mood swings, it will raise serious concern, as it should, and merit a concerted effort to find the patient relief. If a woman reports the same symptoms, and notices they happen in time with her menstrual cycle, the entire complaint is often shrugged off as an unfortunate, but unchangeable, part of life as a woman," says Kathy Cash, PMS-activist and founder of Jubilance, a biotechnology company supporting scientific inquiry into solutions to PMS. "When more than three-quarters of menstruating women are regularly experiencing emotional symptoms that make life more difficult, often much more difficult, you'd think that would be a huge priority for the medical community."

The movement to end PMS lives largely on the internet, spanning across Facebook, Reddit and other online spaces where tens of thousands of women swap links to scientific studies, share their results with personal experimentation and offer each other support.

"When I stumbled across these groups of women and tried one of their recommendations, a single daily nutritional supplement, and my PMS practically disappeared, I was shocked to say the least," says Rebecca Lantry, a Marriage and Family Therapist and new member of the movement to end PMS. "Overnight, this PMS thing that has taken so much time, energy and struggle to live with every month, for two decades just went away. Nearly two decades of unnecessary suffering could've been avoided if this science was more mainstream. Think about the collective impact on our society of millions of women having more energy, more emotional stability, more control and agency in their lives and ultimately, more confidence and more resources to follow their dreams and do great things."

One of the most promising lines of research the movement is rallying behind is that of the nutritional supplement oxaloacetate, or OAA. In new peer-reviewed clinical trials, daily OAA supplementation relieved the four core symptoms of Emotional PMS more than any over-the-counter intervention yet tested.

Double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled clinical trials found that women who took OAA daily for one month (starting at the beginning of their menstrual cycle), on average, reported a

• 51 percent improvement in PMS-related anxiety
• 54 percent improvement in PMS-related gloomy mood
• 36 percent improvement in PMS-related stress
• 18 percent improvement in PMS-related irritability

"To say the least, we were pleasantly surprised by the results," says director of the study Lisa Tully, Ph.D. "This magnitude of improvement, across this range of symptoms, is highly significant. To see these results with a single dietary supplement alone, especially one that is so accessible and doesn't carry the side effects of the pharmaceuticals routinely prescribed for PMS, is very exciting. This could change millions of lives."

"For too long, PMS has been painted as a joke, as just an unfortunate part of life as a woman. This has lead to so many women struggling in silence and shame. Those days are over," says Cash. "The 50's had 'the pill,' that liberated women from sex. Now in 2020 we have a pill that can liberate us from PMS, too."

Those interested in joining the movement can join the private Facebook Group 'Bye PMS!' and learn more at jubilance.com.

About Terra Biological
Terra Biological is a leader in the discovery and development of a new class of therapeutic compounds that target the metabolic environment for treatment of mitochondrial-based diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson's disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).  Established in 2006, the company has leveraged research into the cellular aging process to develop unique, small molecules that are designed to change gene expression and enhance metabolic processes.  Terra Biological is a privately-held life sciences company based in San Diego, California.

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