Quality of Life and Antioxidate Activities in Menopausal Women Receiving Dioscorea

Key Words: Dioscorea, menopause, anti-oxidant, lipid profiles, osteoporosis As in many industrialized nations, the aging population in Taiwan is rapidly increasing and great efforts are being made to improve the quality of life for postmenopausal women. Many physical and mental disturbances are attributed to the menopause. Early symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats and insomnia are common complaints among menopausal women. Increased risks of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis are also well documented as late sequelae of the menopause. These symptoms may be due to estrogen deprivation, secondary to follicular depletion. The advantages and disadvantages of hormone replacement therapy？H]HRT？H^for postmenopausal women have been extensively studied in Western countries. HRT is believed to have beneficial effects on menopausal symptoms; however, it may also increase the incidence of endometrial and/or breast cancer. Thus, many gynecologists and menopausal women seek alternatives to HRT, such as SERM (selective estrogen receptor modulator) or herbs including Traditional Chinese medicine for maintenance of health of menopausal women. In last few years, we have carried out multi-center trials of HRT, SERM, and tibolone in Taiwanese menopausal women at National Cheng Kung University Hospital. Those supplements have been shown to be effective to Taiwanese menopausal women. Dioscorea is a yam steroid extract and contain phytoestrogen and/or phytosterol components. Many research institutes expressed high interests to the cultivation and development of Yam including Dioscorea. Anticancer action of cytotoxic to many human cancer cell lines was found in methyl protogracillin, the extract from Dioscorea collettii var.. Clinically, three weeks supplementation of Dioscorea in aged women has antioxidant activities and reduce serum lipid significantly (Araghiniknam, 1996). The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of Discorea with those of conjugated equine estrogen ？H]CEE？H^ plus medroxyprogesterone acetate ？H]MPA？H^ on climacteric symptoms, blood lipid profiles, bone mineral contents, antioxidant activities and sexuality in Taiwanese postmenopausal women. We expect this pilot study will provide information on the effects of Dioscorea on the quality of life of menopausal women and may initiate the interests of researches and promote the values of Dioscorea in menopause treatment.

Project ID:PG9108-0423
External Project ID:DOH92-TD-1006