effect of valerian on hot flash in menopausal women

ABSTRACT

Menopause is accompanied by a number of complications, which affects the life quality and diminishes feeling of health. The most common of these complications is hot flash. Hormone therapy is commonly used for treatment of this symptom but it has a few side effects and thus is not used in some patients. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the effect of valerian on hot flash in a group of menopausal women. This double-blinded clinical trial was performed on 48 women aged 45-65 years complaining from hot flash. The women were randomly divided into two groups of experimental [taking valerian] and control [taking placebo]. The women were interviewed and a questionnaire consisting individual characteristics and hot flash severity [using Kupperman index] was filled. Hot flash severity was measured before and 30 and 60 days after treatment. The data was analyzed by SPSS using mann-whhitney and Wilkokson tests. Based on our results, 37.9% of the experimental group was suffered from severe hot flash. One month and two months after treatment, the rate decreased to 6.9% and 3.4%, respectively [p<0.001]. In the control group, the rate was 36.8%, before and 15% one and two months after the treatment [p<0.05]. Mann-Whitney test indicated that valerian was more effective than placebo in reducing the severity of hot flash during the menopausal period [p<0.01]. This drug reduced duration of hot flash, two months after the treatment [p<0.05] and decreased its frequency one [p<0.05] and two months [p<0.01] after treatment. The results of this study showed that valerian is effective for treatment of hot flash during menopausal period and it may be used as an alternative for hormone therapy