To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: AHA CONFERENCE: Soy Phytoestrogens Prevent Stroke As Much As Premarin URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/6301A.htm Doctor's Guide March 20, 1998
WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- March 20, 1998 -- Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy from soy protein with phytoestrogens provides equivalent reduction in the occurrence of atherosclerosis in the internal carotid artery to the standard Premarin therapy prepared from mammalian estrogens in monkeys, a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center research team reported today at an American Heart Association meeting in Santa Fe, N.M. Blockage of the internal carotid artery is a leading cause of stroke. "Phytoestrogens were as robust as Premarin," said Thomas Clarkson, D.V.M., professor of comparative medicine at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Clarkson and his colleagues presented their findings at AHA's 38th Annual Conference of Cardiovascular Disease, Epidemiology and Prevention. Clarkson noted that several recent studies done elsewhere had reached differing conclusions regarding the benefits of hormone replacement therapy in preventing stroke. Stroke ranks third as a cause of death for middle-aged and older women. A 50-year-old white woman has a 20 percent probability of developing a stroke sometime in her remaining lifetime. He said that one review of seven studies of stroke deaths among postmenopausal users of estrogen replacement therapy found a reduction of risk ranging between 20 and 60 percent compared to women who were not using estrogen replacement therapy. But an English study found no benefit and a third hinted that estrogen replacement therapy might actually be making strokes more severe. "Given the uncertainties about the effect of estrogens on stroke and stroke risk, it seemed to us important to place a major focus on the evaluation of internal carotid artery atherosclerosis, the lesion site most commonly associated with cerebrovascular symptoms of human primates," Clarkson said. Clarkson and Mary Anthony, research associate in the department of comparative medicine, compared the effects of treatment with mammalian estrogens, Premarin, with treatment with soy phytoestrogens in postmenopausal monkeys, all of whom had been fed a non-prudent diet -- a diet high in cholesterol. The study was part of an overall program project which is looking at the potential benefits of soy phytoestrogens as a postmenopausal therapy. The program project is financed by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. The results showed that both forms of estrogen replacement therapy cut internal carotid artery atherosclerosis by more than half, compared to postmenopausal monkeys who did not receive estrogens. The results were statistically significant. But the effect on the size of the atherosclerotic plaque was much less dramatic, though both forms of estrogen did reduce the size of the plaque. "The primary effect of the intervention is in preventing atheroscerlosis from ever occurring," Clarkson said. "Once atherosclerosis begins to develop, there is only a small effect of the two interventions." Clarkson and Anthony also concluded that the primary way that either form of estrogen replacement therapy works is by preventing the development of what they call an atherogenic plasma lipid profile -- or serum cholesterol levels that lead to atherosclerosis -- despite the high cholesterol diet. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.