RESUMO
In previous centuries many women did not even live until their menopause years due to poor economic conditions, deficiencies of medicine, epidemics and wars. Nowadays in the developed countries, people live until they are 75-80 years old, and with the expansion of average age, the number of people affected by menopause and the years spent in that state increase. Nowadays women spend one third of their lives in the menopausal stage. The only effective way to treat unpleasant symptoms for centuries was with the use of herbs, and the knowledge about them spread through oral tradition. In the 20th century, this therapeutic form was pushed into the background by the development of synthetic drug production and the introduction of hormone replacement therapy. Thanks to the influence of media in the 20th century, women began to have the social need for preserving their beauty and youth for as long as they could. Hormone replacement therapy enjoyed great popularity because women were temporarily relieved of their life quality-impairing menopausal symptoms, but years later it turned out that hormone replacement therapy could pose serious risks. A distinct advantage of herbal therapy is the more advantageous side-effect-profile opposite the used synthetics in hormone replacement therapy. Women are therefore happy to turn to valuable and well-tried natural therapies, which have been used for thousands of years. There is growing interest in herbal remedies. Studying the effects of phytoestrogens has now become an active area for research. However, the results of studies in animals and humans are controversial, some sources suggest that phytoestrogens are effective and safe, other authors claim that they are ineffective in menopause or they have particularly dangerous properties, and cannot be recommended to everyone. It is important to address this issue for the sake of health, mental health and safety of women, and so it is necessary to assess the benefits and the risks before applying them. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(32): 1243-1251.