Soy Compound Shows Promise for Menopause Symptoms

Experts say more research is needed

WEDNESDAY, April 30, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- A new soy-based compound promises to rival estrogen by relieving hot flashes and building bone mass in menopausal women without many of the troubling side effects associated with traditional hormone therapy.

That's the news being reported April 30 at the 51st annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in New Orleans. A group of Israeli researchers presented the findings, which were based on a 12-month study that involved patients, laboratory cell lines and animals.

"The conflicting data on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has led to an intensive search for alternative treatments," reports Dr. Benjamin Chayen, on behalf of his colleagues at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Hashomer, Israel, where the research was conducted. That led the scientists to the soy compound known as Tofupill (DT56a).

Among the 37 women who used the soy supplement, 75 percent reported relief from hot flashes. Tests showed they also experienced a measurable increase in bone density -- up to 4 percent in the spine and 2.9 percent in the neck.

In laboratory tests, the researchers found the soy compound had no negative effects on breast cancer cell lines, indicating it may not share estrogen's ability to stimulate tumor growth. And in rat studies, the soy appeared to stimulate growth of skeletal tissue without stimulating cell growth in the uterus, as estrogen therapy can do.

While experts say the results are promising, New York University nutritionist Samantha Heller believes the research makes too many "leaps of faith" about issues that remain unproven.

"It is not appropriate to extrapolate data gathered on rats and in vitro directly to humans and suggest that there is little concern regarding short- and long-term effects of supplementation," Heller says.

She also points to conflicting evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of soy supplementation in women. "I would exercise caution with soy supplementation until more research is done," she says. "But including soy products in your diet may still confer many health benefits."

Earlier in the week, doctors presented the following additional new findings at the conference:

  • Researchers from St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, Pa., revealed that topical progesterone cream may be as effective as oral progesterone in treating menopause symptoms -- while still protecting the uterus from precancerous cell growth.
  • The research involved 20 healthy menopausal women randomly assigned to daily use of either oral estrogen and progesterone, or oral estrogen and progesterone cream, for six months. The women then switched preparations for an additional six months of study.

    To keep track of uterine health, each woman received an endometrial biopsy at the start of the study and again after each six-month phase -- important since in the past topical progesterone cream was thought to be less effective in maintaining a healthy uterine lining than the oral form.

    The final result: Topical progesterone was as effective as the oral version in both the treatment of menopause symptoms and the protection of the uterine lining. The finding is significant, the researchers say, because earlier studies have shown that progesterone cream may be better tolerated by some women than the oral form of the hormone.

  • A group of British researchers revealed possible new links between a deficiency in the mineral selenium and the risk of miscarriage. In studies conducted at the University of Hull in North Humberside, England, doctors examined both hair and blood samples of 25 pregnant women with no history of miscarriage, and eight with a history of three or more losses and no successful pregnancies.
  • What they found: Although blood levels of selenium were similar in both groups, there was a significant reduction in the level found in hair samples of the women with a history of miscarriage. Both groups had comparable diets, lived in similar geographic areas and used similar hair products. Because the differences were only noted in hair samples, doctors concluded the selenium deficiency may be chronic rather than related to recent selenium intake. They suggest more research to determine if correcting that deficiency could affect pregnancy outcome.

  • Doctors from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey offered evidence that a simple, self-test for a vaginal yeast infection may be as effective as doctor-generated tests in accurately diagnosing the problem.

    In studies conducted on 143 women, researchers revealed that an easy, self-performed swab test that measures the acid level in the vagina (called a vaginal pH test) could accurately diagnose a yeast infection almost as often as a physician-generated test. The researchers say vaginal pH testing by women may be a convenient way to determine the true cause of intimate infections before buying an over-the-counter yeast treatment. This, they say, could reduce the rate of inaccurate self-diagnosis and subsequent incorrect use of antifungal medications -- a problem that can sometimes lead to serious complications. Currently, pH test strips are available at most local pharmacies.

More information

To learn the latest news on women's health issues, visit ObGyn Net, or The Women's National Health Information Center.

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