Pan Bochen, Kato Yasuhito, Sengoku Kazuo, Takuma Naoyuki, Niizeki Noriyasu, Ishikawa Mutsuo
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa, Japan.
Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2004;57(3):144-8. doi: 10.1159/000076003. Epub 2003 Dec 30.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is not successful or is contraindicated for the treatment of climacteric symptoms in some patients. To investigate whether certain herbal formulas of traditional Chinese medicine (Kampo in Japanese) could be used as an alternative treatment, a longitudinal 'before and after' comparative study was carried out in 18 Japanese women, and the results were compared with those of 16 women who underwent HRT. Kampo improved all the climacteric symptoms. In contrast, improvement of cold limbs, sleeping disorders, shoulder stiffness/lumbago, and fatigue in the HRT group was either not significant or of limited extent. In addition, the serum level of estradiol in postmenopausal women was raised by the combined use of two Kampo formulas. These results suggest that Kampo may be considered an alternative to HRT for the treatment of climacteric symptoms, but vigorous monitoring for potential side effects of increased estrogen levels in some postmenopausal patients is needed.
激素替代疗法（HRT）对某些患者治疗更年期症状并不成功或存在禁忌。为了研究某些中药配方（日语为汉方）是否可作为替代疗法，对18名日本女性进行了一项纵向“前后”对比研究，并将结果与16名接受HRT治疗的女性进行比较。汉方改善了所有更年期症状。相比之下，HRT组中四肢发冷、睡眠障碍、肩部僵硬/腰痛和疲劳的改善要么不显著，要么程度有限。此外，两种汉方配方联合使用可提高绝经后女性的雌二醇血清水平。这些结果表明，汉方可被视为治疗更年期症状的HRT替代疗法，但需要对一些绝经后患者雌激素水平升高的潜在副作用进行严格监测。
