Hops cones, which have long been used in brewing and European folk medicine, can prove to be an effective and safe remedy for menopausal symptoms.

Since hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in menopause is associated with a risk of cancer, many women are actively seeking a natural alternative to hormones.

But how herbal remedies affect the risk of cancer - remains a real terra incognita for medicine.

A US study showed that hop cones not only help with climacteric nerve disorders, but also reduce the likelihood of developing breast cancer.

Employees of the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC), who studied safety and pharmacological efficacy of herbal supplements, reported the results on the pages of the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.

Scary hormones and their replacement.

Let us remind readers that exposure to high estrogen hormone concentrations has long been considered a risk factor for breast cancer, especially in women who have entered the climacteric period.

The problem is that to combat the tides and other symptoms associated with climacteric the most effective is the intake of hormones, including significant doses of estrogen - hormone replacement therapy.

HRT in menopause is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular events, which causes many patients to seek salvage in various herbs by pronouncing the word "hormones" with reverential horror. We are talking about hops, yams, tsimitsifuga and other plants.

Meanwhile, these insufficiently studied medicinal plants contain plant analogues of estrogen - phytoestrogens - whose influence on the body is not clear to pharmacologists.

Hop extract and cell detoxification.

Chicago researchers note that preliminary in vitro experiments demonstrated the protective properties of hop phytoestrogens, and therefore they undertook their in-depth study.

In his latest publication, Judy L Bolton, an expert in the field of chemical toxicology, describes the effect of hop cones on the exchange of estrogen in cells - the same process that is directly related to the development of breast cancer in humans.

Scientists have tested the hops extract on two different lines of mammary gland cells. It was found that the substance 6-pre-nylaringenin (6-PN) accelerates detoxification of cells, that is, neutralization and excretion of "cell debris". This is a very important time for the prevention of malignant degeneration, because toxic substances inside the cell threaten the integrity of its DNA.

"The results of the study suggest that the hop cones extract and the 6-pregnolaringenin contained therein induce the 2-hydroxylation process necessary for neutralizing toxins in both cell lines. Perhaps 6-PN has anticancer properties, which needs further confirmation, "reads the article.

Note that breast cancer in white women is cancer number 2 in prevalence, immediately after skin cancer. Annually in the world of breast cancer affects about 2 million women, of which hundreds of thousands die because of belated diagnosis or ineffective therapy.

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