AUGUST 10, 2011 NEW SOY DATA

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough. We must apply. Being willing is not enough. WE MUST DO" - Leonardo da Vinci

And do he certainly did. I love the name Leonardo. That was to be my birth name. I was to be named after my father's father, Leonardo. He died in August 1960, 2 months after I was born. I never got to know him. He was a marble stone cutter. Like daVinci, he was an artist. My mother named me after my own father. Years later she confessed she didn't want people to call me Leo or Leonard. The name became popular after Leonardo DeCaprio starred in Titanic. Leonardo.....now that's Italian.

Some of the symptoms of menopause include rapid bone loss, hot flashes, vaginal dryness and sleep disturbances. These are just a few. Prior to The Women's Health Initiative Data, a combination of estrogen's with or without progesterone was prescribed. With their findings that the overall risk of estrogren use outweighs the benefits especially with cancer, postmenopausal patients said no to estrogen and many doctors do not even bring up the topic.

Well I do. I use natural hormone replacement therapy. I also utilize Angelica sinensis (dong quai), Allium officinalis, (Sage) and Humulus lupulus (Hops) to relieve hot flashes and night sweats. I also use soy to supply phytoestrogens.

So when a single center double blind placebo controlled trial was published in Archives of Internal medicine this month I was interested. Women aged 45- 60 years within 5 years of menopause and T score of -2.0 or high of lumbar on DEXA scan were randomized to receive 200mg soy or placebo . There was a 2 year follow-up.

NO significant differences were found in groups receiving soy (200mg) and placebo on bone density results. I find this inconclusive as the amount of soy was only 200 mg . The meta analysis from 1966-2004 concluded also there was no benefit to phytoestrogens. This study had methodological issues with dietary monitoring and variation in products used. For this reason the newer study used 200mg of soy. (a higher amount than all other previous studies)

I feel this amount of soy used is minimal, even though it is higher than other studies.

The new study also stated that the group taking soy experienced more hot flashes and constipation compared to the placebo group. This doesn't make sense because soy products like miso, tempeh and natto have been found to reduce hot flashes minimally, BUT they do reduce them. Reporting that soy increases hot flashes doesn't make sense.

No significant differences were reported in either group concerning other symptoms such as insomnia and irritability. I could agree with this as soy does not really help with insomnia and irritability. For these symptoms I use cramp bark, passion flower, hops and ashwaganda.

FLAWS

1. Only 248 women out of 306 participated;

2. Higher dose of soy needed. 200mg, although higher than previous studies is still low.

3. A meta analysis of 19 randomized placebo controlled trials did prove there was a statistical improvement in hot flashes.--Why not in this study ?

For those women approaching menopause- discuss with your health care practitioner. Seek more than one opinion. Obtain an opinion from an integrative practitioner or herbalist as to herbs that may be used in addition to soy isoflavones.

Get the facts...

First Do No Harm...

Until tomorrow...