An extract from soya beans is being hailed as an alternative to hormone replacement therapy for combating hot flushes
An extract from soya beans is being hailed as an alternative to hormone replacement therapy for combating hot flushes.
For years, women have avoided HRT due to fears about breast and womb cancer. Only about one in six British women going through the menopause currently take it.
But a non-hormonal substitute based on soya has now been launched with one head-to-head study showing it to be equally as effective as ‘standard’ HRT – without the risk of promoting cancerous cell growth.
After taking the pill for a month, three-quarters of 2,500 women trialling Femarelle in another study said it had reduced the number of hot flushes they suffered daily.
A similar number reported relief from joint pain, muscle pain and headaches.
Professor Andrea Genazzani, President of the International Society of Gynaecological Endocrinology, said: ‘Using Femarelle, we have a significant relief of menopausal symptoms… but it does not have an effect [promoting growth of cancerous cells] on the breasts or the lining of the womb.’
Last night, gynaecologist Haitham Hamoda, of the British Menopause Society, stressed the head-to-head trial was ‘small’ – involving just 89 women – and as yet there was no long-term safety data on Femarelle. He also noted standard HRT was derived from plants too. ‘It’s not a question of this product being “natural” and HRT being “artificial”,’ he said.
Femarelle contains an active ingredient called DT56a, which acts like the sex hormone oestrogen in some body tissues, such as areas of the brain responsible for mood and temperature regulation, but not in others, notably the breasts and womb. Crucially, it does not appear to promote growth of ‘oestrogen receptive’ breast cancer cells.
Femarelle is sold as a food supplement, rather than being made available as a prescription medicine, as makers Glenmark Pharma have decided against pursuing a pharmaceutical licence. It costs £27 a month.
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