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Soy Plus Exercise Relieves Hot Flashes Better
May 7, 2004 -- As a hot flash remedy, soy works best for women who work out, research shows.
Soybeans contain estrogen-like compounds. Soybeans and soy products such as tofu are often touted as remedies for the symptoms of menopause.
Soy works better for some women than for others. One reason might be that processed soy loses some of its active components. Another reason might be exercise, suggest Stacy E. Panagotopulos, PhD, and Francine K. Welty, MD, PhD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Panagotopulos and Welty reported their findings at this week's Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology Conference in San Francisco.
"Women experiencing a higher number of hot flashes who exercised more minutes and days per week received more relief from menopausal symptoms with soy consumption than those [who got less] exercise," they wrote in their presentation abstract.
Panagotopulos and Welty enlisted the aid of 60 postmenopausal women. They went on a special "therapeutic lifestyle change" diet for eight weeks. Half of them also ate 25 grams of soy protein and a half-cup of soy nuts every day. After a four-week no-soy period, they switched soy/no-soy regimens for another eight weeks.
All that soy didn't help all the women equally. For those with more than five hot flashes a day, women who exercised the most -- more than four and a half hours a week -- got the most benefit from soy. They had 49% fewer hot flashes than women who got no soy.
Less exercise also helped women with lots of hot flashes. Women who exercised 30 to 90 minutes a week -- and ate soy -- had 26.5% fewer hot flashes than women who got no soy.
It also made a difference how many days a week a woman exercised. For women with five or more hot flashes a day, exercise four or more days a week and a soy diet reduced hot flashes by 46% compared with women who got no soy. That dropped to a 25% reduction in hot flashes for women who ate soy and who averaged only one to two and a half exercise days per week.
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VIVELLE-DOT (estradiol transdermal system) IS AVAILABLE BY PRESCRPTION ONLY.
INDICATION
Vivelle-Dot is used after menopause to: reduce moderate to severe hot flashes; treat moderate to severe dryness, itching and burning in or around the vagina; help reduce your chances of getting osteoporosis (thin weak bones); and treat certain conditions in which a young woman's ovaries do not produce enough estrogens naturally. Vivelle-Dot 0.025 mg/day is only used to prevent osteoporosis from menopause. If you use Vivelle-Dot only to treat your dryness, itching, and burning in and around your vagina or if you use Vivelle-Dot only to prevent osteoporosis from menopause, talk with your healthcare professional about whether a different treatment or medicine without estrogens might be better for you.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Estrogens increase the chances of getting cancer of the uterus (womb). Report any unusual vaginal bleeding right away while you are taking estrogens. Vaginal bleeding after menopause may be a warning sign of cancer of the uterus (womb).
Do not use estrogens with or without progestins to prevent heart disease, heart attacks, or strokes. Using estrogens with or without progestins may increase your chances of getting heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer, and blood clots. Using estrogens with progestins may increase your risk of dementia (decline in memory and thinking skills).
Vivelle-Dot should not be used if you have unusual vaginal bleeding; currently have or have had certain cancers, including cancer of the breast or uterus; had a stroke or heart attack in the recent past (for example, in the past year); currently have or have had blood clots; currently have or have had liver problems; or think you may be, or know that you are, pregnant.
The most common side effects that may occur with Vivelle-Dot are headache, breast tenderness, and back pain.
You and your healthcare professional should talk regularly about whether you still need treatment with Vivelle-Dot.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Please see Full Prescribing Information for Vivelle-Dot.
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