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- Black Cohosh
- is not just for Women
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| In the late 1800s, when many women
were embarrassed to consult male doctors about "female
problems," they found comfort in Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, a
patent medicine advertised to cure everything from nervous prostration to a prolapsed
uterus.
Pinkham, a grandmotherly type from Lynn,
Massachusetts, first shared her mixture of ground herbs and alcohol with neighbor women.
Her son urged her to market the formula with her picture on the bottle, and within a few
years, the compound was the best-selling medicine of the era. Pinkham was exalted as the
"savior of her sex."
One of her principal herbs was black
cohosh, a native American
plant with a long folk history of relieving menstrual cramps and easing childbirth.
Whether women found relief from the herb or from the 18 percent alcohol content in the
compound is a matter of debate. |
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- Not for Women Only
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- Pinkham’s wasn’t all hooch
and no medicine, however. Black
cohosh is a powerful relaxant
and antispasmodic for both nerves and muscles. It is especially good at relieving cramping
in smooth muscles, which include the uterus. The herb also acts as a phytoestrogen,
meaning that some of its chemicals have qualities similar to the female hormone estrogen.
All of these properties are helpful to women who have problems with their reproductive
systems: excessive bleeding, irregular periods, delayed menstruation, severe menstrual
cramps, and the hot flashes of menopause. Black cohosh works as a regulator or normalizer of the female reproductive system by
helping to restore hormone balance, says Stanley W. Beyrle, N.D., a naturopathic doctor at
the Kansas Clinic of Traditional Medicine in Wichita.
"When it comes to gynecological
complaints, there isn’t a better herb than black cohosh," says Dr. Beyrle. "It’s always one of my base herbs in any
herbal formula for females." Although it has a reputation as a woman’s herb, black
cohosh may have therapeutic
benefits for both sexes. As an anti-inflammatory, it has been used to reduce pain and
swelling in people who have rheumatoid arthritis, sciatica, osteoarthritis, neuralgia, or
inflammation as a result of joint and muscle injuries.
"Anything that reduces inflammation, cramping,
and swelling can reduce pain," says Dr. Beyrle. "That makes
black cohosh useful for many conditions."
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- A Forest Herb
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- A member of the buttercup family, black cohosh is a native plant
found in eastern deciduous forests from Ontario to Georgia. In North America, most black
cohosh root is still harvested
from the wild. In Europe, supplies come from herb farmers. Native American women made a
tea from the plant’s resinous roots and rhizome to soothe menstrual cramps and
promote menstruation. Black
cohosh was also important in
folk medicine as a childbirth aid that eased delivery by stimulating the uterus. Native
Americans and American colonists also valued it as a treatment for rheumatism and sore
throats.
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- Supplement Profile
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- Black
cohosh
- Botanical name: Cimicifuga
racemosa.
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- May help: Bronchial, stomach,
and muscle spasms; rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis; sciatica; neuralgia; muscle and
joint
injuries; breast cancer; premenstrual syndrome; leg cramps, endometriosis; menstrual
cramps; heavy menstrual bleeding; irregular periods; and hot
flashes and other menopausal discomforts.
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- Origin: Found in eastern deciduous forests from
Ontario to Georgia.
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- Cautions and possible side
effects: Do not take
while pregnant unless under doctor care. Do not take while breastfeeding or for longer
than six consecutive months without a doctor’s supervision. May cause occasional
stomach upset, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, and lowered heart rate and blood
pressure.
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Product Recommendations |
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- Natural
source of phyto-estrogens from standardized black cohosh root extract, Reduces
uncomfortable effects of menopause, Modulates hormone levels by
suppressing luteinizing hormone (LH), Effectively binds with estrogen receptors, Nutritional support from antioxidant
vitamins E & C
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- EstroSoy Plus
- with Soy & Black Cohosh
- * Relieves Hot Flashes & Night Sweats.
- * Supports Breast Health.
- * Promotes healthy bones by Helping the Body
Retain Calcium.
- On Sale Now
 
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Nature's Way Black Cohosh extract is standardized to 2.5% Triterpene Glycosides.
1 tavblet provides 40 mg of Black Cohosh, dried extract
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As early as 1787, the plant attracted
the interest of Europeans. Eclectic physicians, a nineteenth-century branch of early
American medicine, made black
cohosh one of their central
healing botanicals for women. From 1820 to 1926, the herb was listed as an official drug
in the United States Pharmacopoeia. Like many phytomedicines, however, it eventually fell out of favor with the
American medical community. It continued to be used in Europe, and today, in Germany, it
is a government-approved treatment for premenstrual syndrome, painful menstruation, and
nervous conditions connected to menopause.
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- Hormone Harmony
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- The herb has many active
ingredients, but an isoflavone called formononetin is the critical one for women.
Formononetin and other compounds in the root and rhizome are able to bind to estrogen
receptors in the uterus. If you lack estrogen—as is the case in menopause—the
herb acts like a hormone replacement. If you have too much estrogen, which is frequently
the case when menstruation is painful and cramping is severe, the phyto- estrogens block
estrogen from binding at those receptor sites, says Kathleen Head, N.D., a naturopathic
doctor in Sandpoint, Idaho, and senior editor of Alternative Medicine Review.
"There’s a lot we don’t
know about phytoestrogens, but we do know that they have a regulatory kind of effect. That
fits with how black
cohosh has been used
traditionally by women," she says. Besides replacing estrogen, black
cohosh also eases the symptoms
of menopause by inhibiting the production of luteinizing hormone (LH). LH levels tend to
increase in the body at the same time that estrogen levels plummet. Hot flashes may be
linked to high levels of this hormone.
The results of one clinical study seem to reinforce
black cohosh’s effectiveness in menopause. Researchers studied 60 women under age 40,
all of whom had had hysterectomies. Because their uteruses had been removed, these women
experienced premature menopause-like symptoms. Some were given black cohosh extract, while
others were treated with various estrogen replacements.
The study found no difference between
the two treatments. The black
cohosh appeared to be equally
as effective as its pharmaceutical counterparts. As with most herbs, however, the
beneficial effects took longer to appear—as much as four weeks. The pharmaceutical
drugs tended to work much faster.
"It’s really a useful treatment during
menopause," says Dr. Head, "but it’s mild, and it may take time before it
starts to work."
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- Quash That Cramp
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- The antispasmodic effect of black cohosh is much more
immediate. Dr. Beyrle recommends the herb for patients who’ve sprained their backs, strained muscles, or have cramping and pain
from arthritis. Pain from an injury often comes from tightness and soreness in a muscle,
he says. "I routinely use black
cohosh in an herbal pain
formula," he says. "If you can get those muscles to loosen up and relax, you can
give someone relief from pain."
The herb has also been used to relieve
stomach cramps as well as to quell coughing and relax constricted blood vessels in cases
of whooping cough, bronchitis, and asthma. Sometimes, herbalists combine black cohosh with valerian or other sedative herbs to create a botanical
tranquilizer for the central nervous system. |
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