The Efficacy of Herbal Supplement Danggui Buxue Tang for Relieving Menopausal Symptoms.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to further explore the efficacy and safety of Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT), a simple herbal formula, for improving the quality of life of women suffering from menopausal symptoms. METHODS: A third clinical trial to determine the clinical efficacy of high-dose DBT for a period of 12 weeks was carried out. The standard Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) assessment chart was used for the evaluation. Safety was defined as an absence of direct estrogenic effects, serum inflammatory cytokines. Notably, interleukin IL-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor TNF-α, known to be directly related to estrogenic reactions in menopause studies, were monitored. RESULTS: The third clinical trial indicated an overall improvement in the four domains of MENQOL, offering further proof of the efficacy of DBT demonstrated in the two previous trials. The serial checks of the three cytokines related to estrogen activities did not show either upward or downward trends. The haphazard behavior reactions of the three cytokines offered indirect indications that DBT improved the MENQOL independently from estrogen activities. CONCLUSIONS: The three clinical trials using DBT to relieve menopausal syndrome have offered solid evidence for its efficacy. The uncertainty regarding whether the "phytoestrogen" contained in DBT had bioactivities similar to estrogen was alleviated through the confirmation that no strict estrogenic bioactivities were observed. The issue of safety was further clarified via laboratory platform studies on DBT, which not only showed the lack of similarity with estrogen actions but also confirmed the value of combining the two herbs in the classic formula.

The Impact of Lifestyle Changes on Cardiometabolic Health in Modernizing China: A Tale of Three Gorges in the Yangtze River.

Background: Modernization of Chinese adults is associated with increased atherosclerotic diseases. Over 1 million farmers have been resettled upland since 1996 in the Three Gorges dam project of the Yangtze River, with job and other lifestyle changes. We aimed to evaluate the impact of such rapid lifestyle changes on indices of cardiometabolic health. Methods: Ninety-five ex-farmers in Wu Shan (WS) (aged 49.7 ± 9 years) resettled uphill for 3-5 years and 87 age and gender-matched farmers in Da Chang (DC) (aged 48.8 ± 10 years) studied before resettlement were compared. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was measured by ultrasound. Results: Ninety-nine percent WS residents adopted nonfarming jobs or were retired. WS ex-farmers had higher waist-hip ratio (P < 0.0001), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (P = 0.001), triglycerides (P = 0.001), and prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) (43.2% vs. 17.2%, P = 0.01) compared with DC farmers. Smoking status, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and fasting glucose were similar. Carotid IMT was significantly higher in WS residents (0.71 ± 0.16 mm) than in DC farmers (0.64 ± 0.11 mm) (P < 0.001). MS correlated with job changes to more sedentary nature (ß = 0.453, P < 0.0001), but not to leisure exercise activities, nor any specific dietary habits. On multivariate regression, carotid IMT was associated with WS location (ß = 0.196, P = 0.021) and presence of MS (ß = 0.208, P = 0.021), independent of other traditional vascular risk factors (model R2 value = 0.444, F-value 12.0, P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Rapid lifestyle and job changes in ex-farmers in the Three Gorges region are associated with significantly worse cardiometabolic profiles and subclinical atherosclerosis, with potentially important implications for atherosclerosis prevention in modernizing China.

Curcumin effects on blood lipid profile in a 6-month human study.

Studies in animals and a short-term human study have suggested that curcumin, a polyphenolic compound concentrated in the curry spice turmeric, decreases serum cholesterol concentration. However, no controlled human trials have examined the effect of curcumin on cholesterol. This study investigated the effects of consuming curcumin on the serum lipid profile in men and women. Elderly subjects (n=36) consumed 4 g/d curcumin, 1g/d curcumin, or placebo in a 6-month, randomized, double-blind trial. Plasma curcumin and its metabolites were measured at 1 month, and the serum lipid profile was measured at baseline, 1 month, and 6 months. The plasma curcumin concentration reached a mean of 490 nmol/L. The curcumin concentration was greater after capsule than powder administration. Consumption of either dose of curcumin did not significantly affect triacylglycerols, or total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol over 1 month or 6 months. However, the concentrations of plasma curcumin and serum cholesterol were positively and significantly correlated. Curcumin consumption does not appear to have a significant effect on the serum lipid profile, unless the absorbed concentration of curcumin is considered, in which case curcumin may modestly increase cholesterol.