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American Morning

Look at Alternative Treatments For Menopause

Aired April 29, 2002 - 08:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hot flashes, mood changes, difficulties with sex, they are some of the telltale signs of menopause. Less obvious for many women though, is whether these symptoms can actually be helped using alternative treatments.

And CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us with some new findings. Boy, I know there's a lot of women out there who would love to hear this, because there is so much confusion about the best way to deal with some of these symptoms.

Good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Absolutely. I mean, it seems like every week there's some new study on the prescription treatment for menopause, which is hormone replacement therapy. One study says it helps your heart, another study says it doesn't. One study says puts you at risk for cancer. Another study says it doesn't, and That has a lot of women throwing up their hands, saying, you know what, I just don't want to go to the prescription route; I want to go to the health food store and get something that's so-called natural.

And so that sent us on a shopping trip, and we have some products here, where if you look on the Internet, you will find claim from various authorities that all of these will help menopausal symptoms. There is many of them here. This one, in fact, even says, helps reduce hot flash frequency, and this one here says, for women over 40, dietary support for life's changes.

So then the question is, do any of these help, and are they safe? So got to working, and talked to some experts, and we have some answers here. There's an herb called black cohosh, which apparently can help some women with night sweats and hot flashes. The authorities that we talked said don't take this for longer than six months, because we don't know if it's safe. And don't combine with hormonal therapy or blood pressure drugs or you might have some very bad side effects.

Another one, vitamin e also appears for some women to help with hot flashes or night sweats. Another warning: Don't combine with blood thinning drugs, including high doses of Aspirin.

Another one, progesterone cream, this is something you buy over the counter, and the progesterone is extracted from yams and soys, also again for night sweats and hot flashes. And then our fourth one is calcium. Now calcium doesn't help fight hot flashes or sweats or any of that stuff. However, it can fight osteoporosis, which is the blood thinning that sets in after menopause.

So those are four where there seems to be some degree of science that says they work and that says that they're safe. However, we do have to say one thing, and that is, that supplements like these are not tested by the FDA, they're not even regulated by the FDA. So you don't really know about their short-term, or especially their long- term safety. So when you take these botanicals, they may sound, oh, they're natural, oh, they're safe, it must be OK, it comes from a garden, they're not necessarily true. There are some things in nature that can kill you.

So you always have to be careful, just as you would with a prescription drug -- Paula.

ZAHN: And what about foods, Elizabeth, that you can toy around with that might offer you some of the soy that in some cases some people think minimizes some of the overt symptoms of menopause?

COHEN: Absolutely. We have some soy here. I brought soy with me. Last time, I brought chicken liver. This time, I have soy. What you see right here is edimaney (ph), which is -- these are soybeans. They are absolutely delicious. You see them at a lot of Japanese restaurants. And this is a soy burger. Now if you eat those two together, that is about half the amount of soy you would need to get the amount that experts say can help fight the symptoms of menopause.

The experts seem to be much more enthusiastic about these kinds of soy products then they are about the supplements, because you can't really overeat on soy. And the soy seems to not only help against menopausal symptoms, but also can lower your cholesterol, so you're getting two for the price of one. Now, there are soy supplements that you can take. However, some experts are a little bit concerned, they're not sure it works as well as the food. Also, you might be able to take too much of that.

ZAHN: All right, 10 seconds left. Will most doctors tell you about this stuff, these alternative treatments.

COHEN: You know what, there's sort of a problem there. There is a disconnect. Doctors never had classes in alternative treatment, so you might not get the answers you're looking for. However, that seems to be improving. I'm hearing from leaders in this field that doctors are more and more coming up with the reality that, you know what, women are taking these things, we ought to figure out if they work and if they're safe.

ZAHN: Well then, we'll just come to you if they don't have the answers.

COHEN: There you go.

ZAHN: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you. That was very interesting.

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