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Soy no use for hot flashes

NEW YORK, Mar 02 (Reuters Health)

Women going through menopause or having chemotherapy for breast cancer often suffer from severe hot flashes. Soy is one of the many non-drug substances that have been suggested for easing symptoms that include flushing, sweating, rapid heartbeat, and anxiety. But a new study finds that soy may not in fact help relieve hot flashes.

"The soy product did not alleviate hot flashes in breast cancer survivors'', state a group of researchers in the March issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

"We were unable to demonstrate any suggestion of benefit'', they add.

Researchers from several institutions in the North Central states, led by Dr. Charles L. Loprinzi of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, enrolled 177 women with a history of breast cancer who were having hot flashes at least 14 times a week, severe enough to "warrant intervention"

For 4 weeks, the women took 150 milligrams a day of soy isoflavones - compounds with a chemical structure similar to the female estrogen hormone estradiol. For another 4 weeks, they took placebo (inactive) pills identical to the soy tablets. In order to evaluate soy fairly, the women did not know which pills they were receiving.

Patients averaged about seven hot flashes a day at the beginning of the study, with almost a third reporting more than 10 a day. At the end of the study, 24% reported that the number of hot flashes had been cut in half while taking soy - but 30% reported a similar decrease while taking placebo.

Noting that health magazines have been recommending soy products as a healthy, effective treatment for menopausal symptoms, Loprinzi and colleagues conclude that the supplements ''do not substantially reduce hot flashes when compared with placebo"

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology 2000;18:1068-1074.

Randomized placebo-controlled trial of an isoflavone supplement and menopausal symptoms in women.

Baber RJ, Templeman C, Morton T, Kelly GE and West L.

Climateric 1999, 285-292

Abstract

Objective:

To test the hypothesis that increasing the intake of isoflavones by dietary supplementation may produce a therapeutic effect in reducing the incidence and severity of hot flushes in menopausal women.

Results:

There was no significant difference between active and placebo groups in the reduction of hot flushes. The combined values for all subjects, regardless of treatment group, revealed a strong negative correlation between the level of urinary isoflavone excretion and the incidence of hot flushes.

Conclusions:

Data do not indicate a therapeutic benefit from a dietary supplementation with isoflavones in women experiencing menopausal symptoms.