Herbal Products Used in Menopause and for Gynecological Disorders

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 26; no. 24; p. 7421
• Main Authors: Kenda, Maša, Glavač, Nina Kočevar, Nagy, Milan, Sollner Dolenc, Marija, On Behalf Of The Oemonom
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 08.12.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Acids; Antidepressants; Birth control; Dietary supplements; Dopamine; Drug dosages; dysmenorrhea; Dysmenorrhea - drug therapy; Ethanol; Female; Fenugreek; Glycine max; gynecological disorders; Gynecology; Herbal medicine; herbal products; Hops; Hormone replacement therapy; Hot flash; Humans; medicinal plants; Menopause; Menopause - drug effects; Menstrual cycle; Menstruation; Ovaries; Pharmacology; Phytotherapy; Plants, Medicinal; PMS; Premenstrual syndrome; Premenstrual Syndrome - drug therapy; Red clover; Review; Serotonin; Signs and symptoms; Soybeans; Trees; Trigonella foenum-graecum; Valerian; Vitex agnus-castus; Womens health; premenstrual syndrome; menopause; medicinal plants; dysmenorrhea; gynecological disorders; herbal products
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules26247421

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 ( ) and red clover ( ) were consistently shown to help reduce menopausal symptoms in clinical studies, currently available data do not fully support the use of fenugreek ( ), hops ( ), valerian ( ), and soybean ( and ) for this indication. For premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder, chaste tree ( ) shows effectiveness, but more clinical studies are needed to confirm such effect upon the use of evening primrose ( ).