Abstract: Background: Menopause is a biological process that can cause various troublesome symptoms such as hot flashes and emotional changes, but can also increase mortality risk due to subsequent osteoporosis and reduced metabolism. Soy isoflavones are structurally similar to 17 β-estradiol, the primary female sex hormone. It is expected that isoflavones supplement will improve menopause-related health outcomes.
Aim of the study: To study role of soy isoflavones on hotflashes in menopause women.
Materials and methods: The present study was conducted at Sardar Patel Medical College, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. For the study, 120 women over 40 yr of age with body mass index in the range of 20–35Kg/m2 who complained of hot flushes were selected. The patients were divided into 2 groups equally based on their arrival order to clinic; the first group received soy extracts as 50 mg isoflavone in form of a tablet, one before lunch and one before dinner and the second group were given placebo resembling the active drug in size and shape in the same manner. Both groups had the regimen for 12 wk.
Results: We observed that mean age of Group 1 patients was 52.36 years and of Group 2 was 53.65 years. Mean BMI of group 1 was 28.26 kg/m2 and of group 2 was 27.69 kg/m2. Mean age of menopause for group 1 was 48.26 years and for Group 2 was 48.69 years. The results on comparison were found to be statistically non-significant for all the variables. It was observed that the frequency of hotflashes decreased significantly for Group A over the period of follow up. However, Group B had minimal efficacy for improvement in hotflashes. The results on comparison were found to be statistically significant.
Conclusion: Within the limitations of the present study, it can be concluded that soy isoflavones are significantly efficacious in improvement of hot flashes in menopausal women.