http://search.lef.org/cgi-src-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=0&page_id=117&query=menopause&hiword=MENOPAUSAL%20MENOPAUSIC%20menopause%20Benefits of Black Cohosh
Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) is a North American perennial herb that has been used to treat gynecological complaints for centuries. Native American healers and American physicians alike have prescribed black cohosh for relief from hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.54 Listed as an official drug in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1926, black cohosh has been rediscovered by research scientists and menopausal women.18,55 Several recent clinical trials of exacting randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design have shown that black cohosh is indeed effective in reducing the severity, duration, and incidence of hot flashes and night sweats.6,16,17,56
A recent study at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ, examined the safety and effectiveness of black cohosh in reducing hot flashes. Weekly hot flash scores were reduced by 56% among women receiving black cohosh. Researchers noted that previous studies reported relatively high placebo effects in tests of treatments for hot flashes, but in this trial, placebo effects ranged from only 20% to 30%. “The efficacy found in this trial seems to be more than would be expected by a placebo effect,” according to the researchers. Women taking black cohosh in this study also reported less trouble sleeping, less fatigue, and less sweating.57
Another recently published study compared the efficacy and safety of black cohosh extract to a standard hormone replacement regimen (low-dose estradiol administered by skin patch). The researchers concluded that the two treatments were equally effective in reducing hot flashes. Both treatments significantly lowered LDL, but only black cohosh raised beneficial HDL. In addition, both patient groups experienced significant improvements in menopause-associated symptoms of anxiety and depression. Effects were noted within the first month of treatment and continued unabated for the three-month duration of the study. Neither treatment affected liver function or altered levels of follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, or cortisol. The estradiol treatment, but not black cohosh, slightly increased levels of the hormone prolactin.58
Because of the potential estrogenic activity of black cohosh, scientists have carefully evaluated whether it is capable of influencing the growth of hormone-dependent cancers. Researchers at Northwestern Medical School who performed a series of sophisticated laboratory analyses of the extract concluded, “Black cohosh extracts did not demonstrate estrogenic activity in any of these assay systems.”59 However, German researchers found that black cohosh appears to exert estrogenic effects elsewhere in the body. They concluded that the botanical product demonstrated “no action in the uterus, but beneficial effects in . . . bone.”60