Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:762-766
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Treatment of a patient with seasonal premenstrual syndrome
BL Parry, NE Rosenthal, L Tamarkin and TA Wehr
The authors identified a patient who had premenstrual syndrome (late luteal
phase dysphoric disorder) only in the fall and winter and was virtually
asymptomatic during the spring and summer. On the basis of previous
experience with seasonal affective disorder, they treated the patient with
bright artificial light, which reversed her symptoms. On subsequent
occasions they reversed this treatment effect with oral melatonin
administration and found that propranolol and atenolol, beta- antagonists
that inhibit the production of melatonin, had a therapeutic effect similar
to that of light. They discuss the implications of these findings in
relation to the importance of melatonin as a mediator of seasonal rhythms
in biology.
