Four trials that were not combined in meta-analyses suggested that extracts with high ( > 30 mg/d ) levels of genistein consistently reduced the frequency of hot flushes .
BACKGROUND Vasomotor symptoms , such as hot flushes and night sweats , are very common during the menopausal transition .
Hormone therapy has traditionally been used as a highly effective treatment , but concerns about increased risk of some chronic diseases have markedly increased the interest of women in alternative treatments .
Some of the most popular of these treatments are foods or supplements enriched with phytoestrogens-plant-derived chemicals that have estrogenic action .
OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy , safety and acceptability of food products , extracts and dietary supplements containing high levels of phytoestrogens when compared with no treatment , placebo or hormone therapy for the amelioration of vasomotor menopausal symptoms ( such as hot flushes and night sweats ) in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women .
Improved cognitive function in postmenopausal women after 12 weeks of consumption of a soya extract containing isoflavones
We previously reported that a high soya diet improved memory and frontal lobe function in young volunteers , and since soya isoflavones are agonists at oestrogen receptors , they may improve these functions in postmenopausal women . Thirty-three postmenopausal women ( 50 - 65 years ) not receiving conventional hormone replacement therapy ( HRT ) were r and omly allocated in a double-blind parallel study to receive a soya supplement ( 60 mg total isoflavone equivalents/day ) or placebo for 12 weeks . They received a battery of cognitive tests and completed analogue rating scales of mood and sleepiness , and a menopausal symptoms question naire before the start of treatment and then after 12 weeks of treatment . Those receiving the isoflavone supplement showed significantly greater improvements in recall of pictures and in a sustained attention task . The groups did not differ in their ability to learn rules , but the isoflavone supplement group showed significantly greater improvements in learning rule reversals . They also showed significantly greater improvement in a planning task . There was no effect of treatment on menopausal symptoms , self-ratings of mood , bodily symptoms or sleepiness . Thus , significant cognitive improvements in postmenopausal women can be gained from 12 weeks of consumption of a supplement containing soya isoflavones that are independent of any changes in menopausal symptoms , mood or sleepiness
Four trials that were not combined in meta-analyses suggested that extracts with high ( > 30 mg/d ) levels of genistein consistently reduced the frequency of hot flushes .
BACKGROUND Vasomotor symptoms , such as hot flushes and night sweats , are very common during the menopausal transition .
Hormone therapy has traditionally been used as a highly effective treatment , but concerns about increased risk of some chronic diseases have markedly increased the interest of women in alternative treatments .
Some of the most popular of these treatments are foods or supplements enriched with phytoestrogens-plant-derived chemicals that have estrogenic action .
OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy , safety and acceptability of food products , extracts and dietary supplements containing high levels of phytoestrogens when compared with no treatment , placebo or hormone therapy for the amelioration of vasomotor menopausal symptoms ( such as hot flushes and night sweats ) in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women .