Comparing the Effect of Rosemary and Mefenamic Acid Capsules on Symptoms of Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Randomized Double-blind Trial

Dysmenorrhea is associated with one or more systemic symptoms, including nausea and vomiting, fatigue, diarrhea, low back pain, and headache in more than 50% of
the cases. These symptoms disrupt social communication in affected women. This investigation was conducted to compare the effect of rosemary and mefenamic acid oral capsules on the symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea.

This randomized double-blind trial was conducted in 82 students with primary dysmenorrhea in Islamic Azad University of Mashhad, Iran. Participants were studied in two cycles for the symptoms of dysmenorrhea. They were randomly assigned into two groups; rosemary (n=45) and mefenamic acid (n=45) using PASS software. They received 250 mg of medications in the first three menstruation days 8-hourly. The visual analogue scale was used to determine the severity of pain. Data were analyzed in SPSS V24.

The mean scores for pain intensity significantly reduced in rosemary group and mefenamic acid group compared to baseline scores (16.81±10.96 and 18.45±12.80, respectively) (P<0.001). But, there were no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). Some symptoms, including nausea in first cycle (P=0.01) and second cycle (P=0.02) and boredom in first cycle (P=0.02) and second cycle (P=0.01) were found to be significantly different between the two groups. But, other symptoms were not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05).

Pain reducing effects of rosemary were similar to those of mefenamic acid and it also reduced boredom and nausea. Medicinal drugs cause fewer side effects, therefore, rosemary could be used as an alternative to mefenamic acid in management of dysmenorrhea.