There is no evidence of effectiveness in the alleviation of  menopausal symptoms with the use of phytoestrogen treatments
BACKGROUND Vasomotor symptoms , such as hot flushes and night sweats , are very common during the menopausal transition .
Hormone replacement therapy has traditionally been used as a very effective treatment but concerns over increased risks of some chronic diseases have markedly increased the interest of women in alternatives .
Some of the most popular of these are treatments based on foods or supplements enriched with phytoestrogens , plant-derived chemicals that have oestrogenic action .
OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy , safety and acceptability of foods and supplements based on high levels of phytoestrogens for reducing hot flushes and night sweats in 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
There is no evidence of effectiveness in the alleviation of  menopausal symptoms with the use of phytoestrogen treatments
BACKGROUND Vasomotor symptoms , such as hot flushes and night sweats , are very common during the menopausal transition .
Hormone replacement therapy has traditionally been used as a very effective treatment but concerns over increased risks of some chronic diseases have markedly increased the interest of women in alternatives .
Some of the most popular of these are treatments based on foods or supplements enriched with phytoestrogens , plant-derived chemicals that have oestrogenic action .
OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy , safety and acceptability of foods and supplements based on high levels of phytoestrogens for reducing hot flushes and night sweats in postmenopausal women .