Flaxseed May Cool the Heat of Menopause

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Flaxseed May Cool the Heat of Menopause
Natural substance can be sprinkled on foods, added to drinks

Flaxseed May Cool the Heat of Menopause (HealthDay News) -- Women who are carrying around fans to battle their hot flashes may want to note the findings of a small study: Flaxseed just might help put out the fire.

Researchers found that postmenopausal women who used dietary flaxseed every day reported a 50 percent reduction in hot flashes over the course of six weeks.

"Flaxseed worked very well," said Dr. Sandhya Pruthi, director of the Breast Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester , Minn.

But another expert, Dr. Wulf H. Utian, executive director of the North American Menopause Society, cautioned that the study was too preliminary to prove that flaxseed is effective.

Although hormone replacement therapy (HRT), particularly estrogen, has been proven effective against hot flashes, its long-term use has fallen out of favor since the large study known as the Women's Health Initiative found an increased risk of heart disease, breast cancer and other problems with long-term HRT use.

Because of this, Pruthi and her team were looking at options for women who had hot flashes but didn't want to take estrogen. Their study involved 29 postmenopausal women who'd had at least 14 hot flashes a week for at least a month.

"Flaxseed has some natural phytoestrogens," Pruthi said, explaining how it, like the hormone estrogen, could possibly have an effect on hot flashes.

Over the course of the study, the women sprinkled 40 grams of crushed flaxseed daily into yogurt or cereal or mixed it with orange juice or water.

In the end, 21 women completed the study; the others had dropped out because of side effects. Of those who finished, the researchers said, the frequency of hot flashes declined 50 percent, and the hot flash score -- a combined measure of a flash's severity and frequency -- was found to have decreased about 57 percent.

"By the second or third week, most women noticed improvement," Pruthi said.

There are other things women can do to deal with menopause-related changes, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, including:

Eat a healthy diet. This becomes more important with menopause because a woman's risk of developing osteoporosis (extreme bone loss) and heart disease goes up at this stage of life. Suggested foods include whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Women also should eat calcium-rich foods (milk, cheese, yogurt) or take a calcium supplement, and they should get adequate vitamin D from sunshine or a supplement.
Avoid alcohol or caffeine. In some women, these substances can trigger hot flashes.
Get moving. Regular exercise can help keep weight down, enhance sleep, strengthen bones and boost mood.
Find healthy ways to cope with stress. Meditation or yoga help many women relax and enable them to better handle menopause symptoms.

On the Web

To learn more about menopause, visit the National Women's Health Information Center online.

SOURCES: Sandhya Pruthi, M.D., director, Mayo Breast Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; Wulf H. Utian, M.D., Ph.D., executive director, North American Menopause Society, and consultant, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio; Summer 2007, Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology ; National Women's Health Information Center (www.womenshealth.gov)
Author: Anne Thompson
Publication Date: Sept. 30, 2008
Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.


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