Women warned on herbal menopause therapy

London, United Kingdom, January 14: There is a disappointing news for women seeking alternatives to estrogen-progestin supplements. A review to summarize the efficacy and safety of herbal medications show a preponderance of evidence that they are ineffective.

The review of 26 clinical studies was conducted by Dr Ike Iheanacho, on plants, whose extracts ease mood swings, tiredness, hot flushes, loss of libido and other outcomes of the hormone changes that occur at menopause.

The main herbs were black cohosh (Actaea racemosa); red clover (Trifolium pratense); dong quai, evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) and ginseng (Panax ginseng). It also included studies on wild yam extract, chaste tree, hops, sage leaf and kava kava.

Studies suggest that hormone replacement therapy which replenishes hormone levels to ease menopause symptoms, rather increases risk of breast, ovarian cancerdefine and heart problems. This has led to more women turning to herbal remedies to relieve menopause symptoms.

Dr Ike Iheanacho commented, "In reality, however, herbal medicines have pharmacological actions, and so can cause unwanted side effects and have potentially dangerous interactions with other medicines, both herbal and conventional."

The findings lose ground on the account that it lacks scientific criteria. The number of participants in many studies is too small, and the duration of the trial is too short to get a definitive answer. Also, the chemical make-up of the same herb vary between manufacturers, making the results of different studies hard to compare.

Dr Iheanacho stated, “There are a fair number of studies but when you drill it down to the ones that can give you useful information, those are in the minority.”

Doctors and scientists are extremely skeptical with the new remedies and warn women that these treatments are untested with long-term effects unknown. Nevertheless, women seem to be lining up to try
the next big thing in menopause symptom relief.

Perhaps the reason behind this is that herbal products can be easily purchased at shops or over the Internet and are often assumed to be "safe" on the grounds that they are "natural."

Britain has given "traditional herbal registration" to a product containing black cohosh as a menopausal treatment, but at the same time warn women, that potential toxicity of the liver could be its side effect.

Dr Iheanacho recommends that doctors should ask their patients if they are taking herbal remedies, so that the potential risks and benefits could openly be discussed.

The review appears in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, published by the British Medical Association.