Affiliation:
1. Obstetrics and Gynecology Unit, Department of Woman, Child and General and Specialized Surgery, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
Abstract
Background:
Besides hot-flushes, sleep disturbances increase around menopause, impacting on the
quality of life. When hormone replacement therapy is contraindicated, it is necessary to provide alternative treatments.
Objectives:
This study aimed to observe the effects of an herbal remedy from pollen extracts and soy isoflavones
for menopausal complaints, particularly on sleep disorders.
Methods:
A six-month prospective observational study was performed in women in natural menopause suffering
from menopausal symptoms and sleep disturbances. Three groups were compared: 57 women receiving two tablets/
day containing herbal remedy from pollen extracts (group A), 60 women receiving one tablet/day containing
isoflavones 60 mg (group B), 47 women not receiving any treatment (group C). At 3 (T3) and 6 months (T6), the
daily number of hot-flushes, Kupperman index for menopausal symptoms, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
(PSQI) test were assessed.
Results:
Both groups A and B showed a significant improvement of hot flushes (p<0.001) and Kuppermann Index
(p<0.001) from T0 to T3 and from T0 to T6. No significant differences between treatment groups were found
at T3, while at T6 group A showed greater decrease of daily hot flashes and better improvement of Kupperman
Index as compared to group B (respectively, -48.8% versus -18.4% and -24.4% versus -15.4%; p<0.001). Improvement
of global sleep quality was more evident in the pollen treated group compared to isoflavones group at
both three (-24.7% versus -9.3%, p<0.001) and six (-52.9% vs -4.0%; p<0.001) months, mainly for the scores
related to subjective sleep quality, sleep latency and habitual sleep efficiency.
Conclusions:
Non-hormonal treatments can effectively be used in symptomatic menopausal women: among these,
after six months of treatment, pollen extracts might achieve a better improvement of hot flushes, sleep disturbances
and menopause-related symptoms than soy isoflavones. Herbal remedy from pollen extracts is mainly
effective when the quality of sleep is the most disturbing complaint.
Publisher
Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Subject
Drug Discovery,Pharmacology
Cited by
17 articles.
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