Natural Remedies No Better Than Placebos For Relieving Menopause

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Main Category: Menopause
Also Included In: Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine
Article Date: 19 Dec 2006 - 4:00 PDT

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A new research study shows that natural remedies based on a number of popular herbal and food ingredients (including black cohosh) are no more effective than a placebo at relieving unpleasant symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and night sweats. It confirms that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) remains a significantly effective treatment.

The study is published in the Annals of Internal Medicine .

The scientists studied 351 women experiencing at least 2 episodes of "vasomotor symptoms" (hot flashes or night sweats) per 24 hour period. Half the women were perimenopausal (started menopause but still having menstrual periods) while the others were menopausal but had stopped their periods.

The women were randomnly split into five groups. Each group took a different "remedy": (1) A placebo (containing no active ingredient), (2) Black cohosh, (3) A "multibotanical" of 10 ingredients, including black cohosh, alfalfa, ginseng, boron, licorice, oats, and pomegranate, (4) A multibotanical plus advice to encourage consumption of soya-based food, and (5) Hormone therapy.

The women recorded how often their night sweats and hot flashes occurred and how bad they were, at the start of and then three times over 12 months. The results were then compared across the five groups.

The scientists found that the women who took HRT had the fewest symptoms, while all other four groups had very similar symptoms, making the placebo group's results virtually indistinguishable from those of the three natural remedy groups.

Black cohosh is a herb that is sold as a dietary supplement, often in health food shops. It has become popular as a safe alternative to hormone therapy for relief of menopausal symptoms, but according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), current evidence is unconvincing.

The menopause can last a few months or several years and starts when a woman is about 50, although it can happen earlier if she has had cancer treatment, suffers from diabetes, or has had surgery in the reproductive area, for example a hysterectomy. It's a natural process that occurs when the ovaries shut down and stop producing oestrogen, the main female sex hormone.

For most women the menopause is reasonably uneventful, bringing mild symptoms. However, for about 10 to 20 per cent of women this period of their lives can be extremely unpleasant and accompanied by a distressing range of symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and many more.

ProjectAWARE, the US based Association of Women for the Advancement of Research & Education lists 35 symptoms of menopause, including:

- Shock sensation, described as "the feeling of a rubber band snapping in the layer of tissue between skin and muscle",
- Changes in body odor,
- Tinnitus,
- Reduced attention span, anxiety, fatigue,
- Gastrointestinal problems, nausea,
- Irregular heart beat, irritability, and mood swings.

This news will be a great disappointment to millions of women worldwide for whom the menopause brings months, sometimes years, of misery and who are concerned about the risks associated with HRT, which has recently been linked with increased risk of breast cancer and heart attacks.

"Treatment of Vasomotor Symptoms of Menopause with Black Cohosh, Multibotanicals, Soy, Hormone Therapy, or Placebo - A Randomized Trial"
Katherine M. Newton, PhD; Susan D. Reed, MD, MPH; Andrea Z. LaCroix, PhD; Louis C. Grothaus, MS; Kelly Ehrlich, MS; and Jane Guiltinan, ND
Annals 19 December 2006 | Volume 145 Issue 12 | Pages 869-879

Click here for Full Text of the study.

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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