Herbal products used in menopause and for gynecological disorders

Kenda, Maša (author), Kočevar Glavač, Nina (author), Nagy, Milan (author), Sollner Dolenc, Marija (author)

Herbal products are often used as an alternative to pharmacological therapy. Menopausal symptoms and gynecological disorders (such as premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea) are the indications where pharmacological therapy may have serious adverse events, hence many women prefer to use herbal products to help with these symptoms. Here, we reviewed plants and derived products, which are commonly used for the abovementioned indications, focusing on clinical data, safely profile and whether or not their use is justified. We noted that limited data are available on the use of some plants for alleviating the symptoms of menopause and gynecological disorders. While black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemose) and red clover (Trifolium pretense) were consistently shown to help reduce menopausal symptoms in clinical studies, currently available data do not fully support the use of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), hops (Humulus lupulus), valerian (Valeriana officinalis), and soybean (Glycine max and Glycine soja) for this indication. For premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder, chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) shows effectiveness, but more clinical studies are needed to confirm such effect upon the use of evening primrose (Oenothera biennis).

• Language: English
• Keywords: menopause, dysmenorrhea, premenstrual syndrome, gynecological disorders, herbal products, medicinal plants
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: FFA - Faculty of Pharmacy
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: 20 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 26, iss. 24, art. 7421
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-136685
• UDC: 582:615.322:618.173
• ISSN on article: 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules26247421
• COBISS.SI-ID: 88347651

Note

V članku na koncu seznama avtorjev navedeno: "and on behalf of the OEMONOM" (datum opombe 16. 5. 2022).

• Publication date in RUL: 16.05.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Molecules
• Shortened title: Molecules
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1420-3049
• COBISS.SI-ID: 18462981

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 08.12.2021

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: menopavzni simptom, dismenoreja, predmenstrualni sindrom, ginekološke motnje, zeliščni izdelki, farmakološka terapija, menopavza, zdravilne rastline

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: Erasmus+, Key Action 2: Strategic Partnerships
• Project number: 2020-1-CZ01-KA203-078218
• Name: Open Access Educational Materials on Naturally Occurring Molecules