Effects of standardized phytoestrogen on Taiwanese menopausal women

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effects of standardized soy extract on climacteric symptoms, lipid profiles, bone markers, and serum isoflavone concentration in healthy Taiwanese postmenopausal women. Materials and Methods: A multicenter, open-labeled, randomized, prospective, comparative study design was used. A total of 130 outpatients who had undergone natural menopause were randomly administered either 70 mg or 35 mg soy extract daily for 24 weeks. Results: The evidence suggests that the soy extract treatment that was administered to both groups for 1 month could help reduce climacteric scores (reductions of 19.66% [p 200 mg/dL after 6 months of treatment. In patients with high bone turnover (urinary deoxypyridinoline/creatinine > 7.4nM/mM), soy extract treatment reduced the deoxypyridinoline /creatinine level by 10.53% (p<0.05) and 11.58% (p<0.05) in the 35 mg and 70 mg groups, respectively. Serum levels of isoflavone increased in both groups after 6 months of treatment. Conclusion: Soy extract is highly efficacious at relieving menopausal symptoms and demonstrates a positive effect on the cardiovascular system and skeleton.

Keywords

• bone markers
• climacteric symptoms
• lipid profiles
• menopause
• phytoestrogen