Clinical use of soy products

Abstract

Epidemiological data suggest that Asian women have a lower incidence of hot flushes compared to Western women as well as a lower incidence of coronary artery disease and estrogen-dependent cancers such as that of the breast. Soy is a staple ingredient of the traditional oriental diet and contains large quantities of phytoestrogens. These compounds have an oestrogen-like structure and their use has been proposed in the treatment of the postmenopausal women as a new improved form of “natural” selective oestrogen receptor modulators (SERM). Women with contra-indications to the use of conventional oestrogen replacement, or simply wanting a more “natural” alternative to relieve their distressing menopausal symptoms are increasingly requesting information about the efficacy of these forms of diet supplementation. Several clinical trials on vasomotor symptoms have been performed to date using various forms of phytoestrogens supplementation, sometimes with contradictory results. These trials differed in many aspects such as design, number of patients recruited, types and amount of phytoestrogens used. This presentation will critically review the clinical data available to date in an attempt to answer some of the most commonly asked questions about dose and type of phytoestrogens supplementation most likely to be effective for climacteric symptoms relief.