大多數的婦女曾感受過經前症候群所帶來的不適，嚴重者甚至無法執行工作或曰常活動。因此，除傳統的藥物治療外，服用草本植物萃取物之輔助療法已蔚為風氣。然而，草本植物萃取物對經前症候群的改善成效尚未有一致性結論且安全性仍有疑慮，故本文以系統性文獻回顧方式整合高品質之隨機臨床試驗，探討聖潔莓、月見草油、聖約翰草及銀杏對經前症候群之改善成效，研究結果發現僅聖潔莓具一致的證據支持其療效，而銀杏雖有改善經前症候群之證據，但相關文獻僅ー篇，未來仍需更多大型研究證實，關於月見草油及聖約翰草，目前的研究證據則指向於無法有效緩解經前症候群之不適。再者，在服用安全性方面，不論服用何種萃取物都可能造成輕微的副作用與不舒服，因此，建議有經前症候群困擾之婦女宜經由合格的醫療人員診斷與調劑，不應盲從廣告宣傳及聽信誇大療效之中草藥食品。本研究透過實證資料的探討與整合，期可作為女性患者自我保健之參考。

Many women have experienced discomforts associated with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and sometimes serious PMS can disrupt their work or daily routine. Aside from traaitional medications, herbal extracts has become a popular alternative for treating PMS. Nonetheless, there are neither consistent findings consolidating the effect of herbal extracts on improving PMS nor enough evidence supporting the safety of these herbal extracts. As a result, the investigators reviewed available high quality randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that explored the effect of Chasteberry (VAC), evening primrose oil (EPO), Saint John’ s wort (SJW), and ginkgo on treating PMS. The result suggested that VAC is the only type of herbal extract more consistently demonstrating PMS treatment effects. For ginkgo, there was only one study supporting its effect on relieving PMS, and large, methodologically trails are needed to establish definitive recommendations for treatment in the future. For EPO and SJW, there was no clinical evidence showing their effect on PMS to date. As for how these herbal extracts safety, one should keep in mind that all of them have certain potential side effects, and therefore, women with PMS should be diagnosed and obtain prescription from qualified medical personnel rather than directly purchasing herbal medicines promoted by exaggerated advertisements.