Black Cohosh Study: They Just Don't Get It!
Here is yet another study which shows the futility of having "conventionally" trained, or allopathic researchers attempting to do anything with natural remedies. Why? Because they always seem to approach these problems from the limited, one-thing-at-a-time approach that the Big Pharmaceutical Houses prefer. Big Pharma and Big Research feel a compelling need to isolate a single substance or chemical to relieve a symptom or cure a disease, and cannot be content to accept that often a single molecule will not do the trick: the synergy of a number of things - different herbs, or differing compounds within a plant or herb - are often needed to produce the desired results. This one-track approach is inevitably destined to fail, for it relies upon the creation of substances that while they may have a desired effect on one aspect of the human organism often have undesired and even disastrous effects on other areas of our complicated selves. The Naturopathic approach tends to be a more holistic one that considers all aspects of the patient and seeks to solve problems with the least possible amounts of artificial intervention. In the example given in this study, a good naturopathic physician would have considered a number of approached to the problem including, but not limited to herbal treatments (possibly, but not necessarily including Black Cohosh), dietary corrections, nutritional supplementation, hormonal precursor supplementation, bio-identical hormone replacement, and of course, hormone testing to determine just exactly what imbalances are causing the problematic symptoms. Why doesn't conventional medicine do that too? Because it is far easier for the conventional doc in the fast-paced world of 10 minute "patient visits" to listen briefly, hear the magic words "hot flashes" and scribble out a prescription for Pregnant Mare's Urine (Premarin) pills, or whatever other concoction the Big Pharma Drug Rep has assured the poor, harried doc is the current "standard-of-care" treatment. Then it's "Nurse, send in the next patient!" - And so it goes, all day long...
Cheers,
Nurse Mark
Study: Black cohosh no help in menopause
By PATRICK WALTERS, Associated Press Writer 55 minutes ago
A popular herbal treatment called black cohosh is practically ineffective at relieving hot flashes and night sweats in women going through menopause, a study found.
The findings were disappointing news for women seeking alternatives to estrogen-progestin hormone supplements, which have been linked to breast cancer and heart problems.
The yearlong study of 351 women suffering from hot flashes and night sweats found that those given black cohosh got about the same amount of relief as those who took a placebo. And those groups saw nothing close to the improvement in women on hormones.
"It's safe and not effective, so therefore it doesn't have any utility whatsoever," said Barrie Cassileth, an alternative-medicine researcher at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who was not involved in the study.
The study was conducted at Seattle-based Group Health, a health plan, and was published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Black cohosh an herb that is a member of the buttercup family and is commonly given to ease menopause symptoms is available in pill or liquid form and is sold over the counter in many health food stores and over the Internet.
In the study, some participants were given black cohosh, while others received hormone supplements, a placebo or a botanical treatment that included black cohosh, alfalfa, licorice and ginseng.
Women taking the herbal treatments reduced hot flashes by only about half an episode per day when compared with those taking the placebo, the study found. Those who got hormone therapy reduced their hot flashes by about four episodes per day when compared with the placebo.
"It's disappointing news," said Katherine M. Newton, an epidemiologist who helped lead the study, funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. "It would be nice to offer something safe and effective."
Menopausal women can still make behavioral changes such as dressing in layers, sleeping in a cooler room and avoiding possible triggers such as very hot liquids and alcohol, Newton said. The study also shows that symptoms decreased over the course of the 12-month period and that they nearly always go away on their own.
The findings come less than a week after researchers reported a dramatic decline in U.S. breast cancer cases, a drop doctors attributed partially to fewer women using hormone therapy to treat menopause. Breast cancer rates fell more than 7 percent in 2003, with about 14,000 fewer women diagnosed than were expected.
In 2002, a government study found a higher risk of breast cancer and heart problems occurred among women taking estrogen-progestin pills. Millions of women stopped taking the supplements. Doctors urged women with serious menopausal symptoms to use the lowest dose for as short a time as possible.
The latest study, conducted between 2001 and 2004, could hurt hopes for herbal remedies.
"We hope that this is not it," said Dr. Susan D. Reed, another of the study's authors. "However, there's not much that appears promising that is currently on the horizon."
The news may not all be bad. Since women who took a placebo saw some improvement, experts say there is hope that some could get relief through meditation or self-hypnosis.
"If you can relax your mind appropriately, you can also relax your body," Cassileth said. "If 30 percent of women could lose hot flashes because their mind made them do it, that's fantastic."
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