The effects of Humulus Lupulus L.)Hops) on Menopausal Vasomotor Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta- analysis

Vasomotor symptom is one of the most commonly problems of women during menopause and can negatively affect women’s quality of life. Humulus Lupulus L.) Hops) has powerful Phytoestrogenic compounds which are effective in the alleviation of menopausal symptoms. This systematic review and meta-analysis study was performed with aim to evaluate the effects of hops on vasomotor symptoms of menopause.
In this systematic review, databases of Medline, Embase, ProQuest, Web of Science, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, Scopus, Uptodate, Google Scholar, and CINAHL (EBSCO) were searched using the keywords of “menopause”, “hops”, “hot flash”, and “vasomotor symptoms” and all clinical trials published between 2000 to the end of December 2015 were included in the study. No limitation was imposed on the papers’ language. Finally, four articles were extracted and evaluated. Data was analyzed by Stata software (version 10). Publication bias was assessed by Egger tests and heterogeneity was assessed by chi-square and I2 index. Z-value and P-value were used for evaluation of the significance of mean differences.
Among 340 initially assessed papers, finally, 4 articles were entered to the study. Combining data from different studies based on random model indicated that hop alleviated vasomotor symptoms of menopause and reduced the frequency and duration of hot flushes and night sweats (P Hops can be used as an alternative treatment in the management of vasomotor symptoms of menopause.