EVALUATION OF PHYTOESTROGENS AS A THERAPEUTIC ALTERNATIVE TO HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY (HRT) IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN

BACKGROUND Even in today's scenario, post-menopausal women are blindly treated with Hormone Replacement Therapy to alleviate the symptoms without proper judgment of its side effects. This study was carried to evaluate the role of phytoestrogens as a therapeutic alternative to Hormone Replacement therapy in post-menopausal women. MATERIALS AND METHODS This prospective study was carried in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Rama Medical Collage Hospital & Research Centre, Mandhana, Kanpur, to evaluate the role of phytoestrogens as a therapeutic alternative to Hormone Replacement therapy in post-menopausal women, 90 symptomatic post-menopausal women with both natural and surgical menopause with symptoms related to menopausal syndrome were selected. All 90 selected post-menopausal women were administered with a regular dose of phytoestrogen namely soy Isoflavones for a period of 6 months. The cases were followed-up and severity of symptoms were studied regularly for a time of 6 months. RESULTS Out of 90 cases regular treatment was observed in 75 cases, while 6 cases took irregular treatment, 5 cases stopped treatment and 4 cases failed to follow up. All the 75 regular cases showed substantial improvement in symptoms like vasomotor symptoms, insomnia, depression, lethargy, etc. Maximum benefit was found in hot flushes, insomnia, depression, lethargy and vaginal dryness. CONCLUSION Though the results of our study was highly encouraging and comparable with earlier studies, the significant role of phytoestrogen over HRT cannot be fully established, but a repeated study over larger count of patients and increased duration of therapy can prove superior role of phytoestrogen over HRT, without any side effects.