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- NEW YORK, Mar 02 (Reuters Health)
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- 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.
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- "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.
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- "We were unable to demonstrate any suggestion of benefit'',
they add.
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- 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"
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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"
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- SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology 2000;18:1068-1074.
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- 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.
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