Study: Flaxseed Doesn't Help Women's Hot Flashes
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A study on flaxseed, released over the weekend at a conference of oncologists in Chicago, is disappointing for women wanting to control their hot flashes by eating the seed.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Michele Fiore reports, 178 women with at least 28 hot flashes a day got divided into two groups. One group ate a flaxseed bar a day, the other didn't know it but they got a placebo.
After six weeks, it didn't matter. All were still experiencing the side effects of menopause.
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A third of each group reported 50 percent fewer hot flashes, and all reported more bloating, diarrhea and nausea.
But women wanting to avoid hormone therapy do have other options.
"Two more common ones that are used are Gabapentin, which is an anti-seizure medicine, and the other one is called Venlafaxine, which is one of the family of anti-depressions called the selective serotonin inhibitors," said Dr. Sandhya Pruthi of the Mayo Clinic, who is attending the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago.
Dr. Mark Kris, a cancer specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, told the Associated Press the flaxseed results are disappointing
"There were so many testimonials that we thought flaxseed was going to work, but a testimonial is not a rigorous clinical trial result, and that's what our patients deserve," he said.
"Even natural products do have side effects," so it's important to test them in studies such as this one, he said.
The National Cancer Institute paid for the study.
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