Effect of Powder of Flaxseed on Hot flashes in Women at the Climacteric

Vasomotor flashes are one of the most common complaints in climacteric women. Currently, Hormone therapy is the gold standard for treatment of it but various studies have reported serious risks even in short-term use. Interest in plants source for treatment of hot flash has grown recently. Flaxseed is a rich source of lignans and many women are more inclined to use it, but literature on effect of flaxseed is rather limited. Objective of this study was to evaluate effect of 6-weeks consumption of flaxseed on vasomotor flashes in climacteric women.

In this double-blind randomized cross-over study 62 women aged at least 41 years with five moderate to severe flashes and other eligibility, were randomly assigned in two groups (n=31). Intervention was two 6-week periods (washout: 2 weeks) and consumption 40 (g) flaxseed powder or placebo twice daily. Participants filled out daily hot flash diary and night sweat diary during the study. Weekly mean of each variable, separately were measured by adding the points during a week and was divided on days that diary had been filled in same week. Outcomes were measured changes from baseline to the average for all follow-up regarding mean of each variable. Data were analyzed by, paired t-test, Wilcoxon and RANOVA using SPSS software.

Data analyzing (n=46) showed statically significant reduction in the mean changes of severity and duration of flashes, night sweat severity and sleep disturbances with flaxseed comparing placebo (p<0.009, p= 0.045, p=0/005, p=0/028 respectively).There were no significant reduction in frequency of hot flashes and night sweats but repeated measurement of ANOVA showed statistically significant reduction in mean of frequency of hot flashes and night sweats during 6 week intervention with flaxseed compared to placebo in women with 5-7 daily flushes and ≤ 2 night sweats, respectively (p<0.001).

Regarding the result of this study, 6-week consumption of flaxseed powder may be effective in reduction of vasomotor symptoms, especially for women with moderate vasomotor symptoms compared to women with more and sever symptoms.