Herbal menopause 'does not help hot flushes'
A popular herbal menopause treatment does almost nothing to help with hot flushes, according to a new US study.
Researchers found that 351 women given black cohosh got around the same amount of relief as those who took a dummy pill.
Participants given the natural remedy, a member of the buttercup family which is sold over the counter, saw their hot flushes reduced by about half an episode a day compared to those on the placebo.
Those who got hormone replacement therapy had about four episodes a day fewer, the study by the Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative Centre for Health Studies found.
The results will be disappointing for women looking for an alternative to HRT, which has been found to increase the risk of stroke, breast cancer, heart disease, or developing a blood clot on the lungs.
They come just days after scientists reported a dramatic decline in US breast cancer cases, which was attributed in part to fewer women using HRT to treat menopausal symptoms.
The women in the study, who were aged 45 to 55, were either given black cohosh, a multibotanical supplement containing the herb, the supplement plus encouragement to increase soy consumption, HRT or the placebo.
When researchers evaluated them at three, six, and 12 months, they found no significant difference between the numbers of daily hot flushes in any of the herbal supplement groups compared to the placebo group.
“Black cohosh used alone or as part of a multibotanical supplement shows little potential as an important therapy for relief of hot flushes,” the team concluded.
Principal investigator Katherine Newton added: “We were disappointed by the findings because many women want an alternative to hormone therapy, and many have assumed that black cohosh is a safe, effective choice.
“While hormone therapy is still the most effective treatment for hot flushes, recent studies have shown that it poses serious risks.”
Co-investigator Susan Reed, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington, said: “Prior to our study, the trials of black cohosh were small and of short duration. Our study was the largest and longest to date.
“Plus, we had good controls with both the placebo and hormone therapy arms, allowing us to definitively show differences between the groups taking herbs and the placebo group.”
The study, which is published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, did also show that in all the groups symptoms decreased over the course of the 12-month period.
“We call this the ‘tincture of time’ – that is, over time, hot flushes nearly always go away on their own,” Dr Newton said.
Earlier this year a scientific opinion paper from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists warned that black cohosh carried a “slight risk of minor, transient adverse events, such as gastrointestinal upsets and rashes“.
It added: “There have been more serious adverse events reported, including hepatotoxicity, one case requiring liver transplantation.
“While it is not possible to confirm causality, owing to the limited evidence available, clinicians have been made aware of this potential serious adverse effect by regulatory bodies in the UK.”
