The effect of fennel oral capsules on physical symptoms caused by menopause in women

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.Sc. of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant professor, Department of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Traditional Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

3 Instructor, Department of Reproductive Health, Pregnancy and Delivery, Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

4 MD, Barij Essen Pharmaceutical Company Research and development unit, Kashan, Iran.

5 M.Sc. of Biostatistics, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Menopause symptoms can have harmful effects on women's life and affect their quality of life. Most of post-menopausal women have turned to complementary medicine therapies such as herbal therapy and the use of phytoestrogens for compatibility with menopausal symptoms. This study was performed with aim to assess the effect of fennel as a phytoestrogen in treatment of menopausal physical symptoms.
Methods: This clinical randomized trial was performed in 2016 on 90 post-menopause women aged 45-60 years in Tehran. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups of fennel and placebo. Women in fennel group received 8 weeks of treatment with daily two 100mg fennel soft capsules and in placebo group with two 100 mg sun flower oil capsules. The menopausal physical symptoms were measured by the physical part of Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 14) and Independent t-test and Paired t-test. P<0.05 was considered significant.
Results: The two groups were similar in menopausal physical symptoms before the intervention. But, after 8 weeks of the intervention, Independent t-test showed that menopausal physical symptoms after the intervention were significantly decreased compared to before the intervention (P<0.001), but in placebo group, menopausal physical symptoms after the intervention were not significantly different with before the intervention (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Fennel is effective in reducing menopausal physical symptoms without any serious side effect. More researches are needed to definite the results of this study.

Keywords

References

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The Iranian Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility
Volume 20, Issue 9
November 2017
Pages 41-48

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