Dear Folks:
Isn't it interesting that women should be cautious about soy-based
menopause remedies, but that it is okay (according to that recent study in
JAMA) for babies to be fed soy formula?
Caution Urged on Soy-Based Menopause Remedies
LONDON (Reuters Health) Apr 08 - So little is known about how plant
oestrogens act on the human body that sales of soy supplements as a "natural"
alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) must be questioned, a
researcher reported on Tuesday at British Endocrine Societies' annual meeting
in Harrogate, Yorkshire. Soy has been widely promoted as a natural
alternative to HRT. Soy contains genistein, a plant oestrogen that has
similar but weaker effects as the oestrogen found in women. But Dr. Saffron
Whitehead, reader in reproductive physiology at St. George's Hospital Medical
School, London, said new studies on human cells have shown that genistein and
other phyto-oestrogens may also block the enzymes that make these hormones.
This could explain why the incidence of breast cancer, which in many cases is
dependent on oestrogen, is about two thirds lower amongst Japanese and
Chinese women who consume diets rich in soy compared with women living in
England, she told her colleagues. Dr. Whitehead's team examined the effects
of phyto-oestrogens on human ovarian cells obtained during procedures for in
vitro fertilization. The results showed that several phyto-oestrogens,
including genistein, inhibited the conversion of androgen to oestrogen. The
researchers believe this could be significant in postmenopausal women because
as ovaries cease to function in menopause, oestrogen converted from androgen
becomes the only source of oestrogen. "This finding is potentially important
to the phyto-oestrogen story," Dr. Whitehead said in a statement. "We really
don't know how phyto-oestrogens act in the human body. They could be weak
oestrogen mimics, oestrogen blockers or enzyme inhibitors. "If they do stop
the natural production of oestrogens, we should consider whether soy
supplements be sold as a natural alternative to HRT."
Reuters Health Information 2002. © 2002 Reuters Ltd
Warmly,
Nikki Lee
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