Women advised to consume soy or herbal supplements with care

13/07/05 Women who take soy or herbal supplements, such as black cohosh, red clover and ginseng, should do so with care, says a Cornell University expert affiliated with the Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors (BCERF) at Cornell, the land-grant institution of New York state.

"Although there is no direct evidence that any herbal medicines can increase or decrease breast cancer risk, some herbs can have estrogen-like actions and thus raise concern about their long-term use," said Barbour Warren, a research associate with BCERF.

He points to not only a lack of well-designed clinical trials but also to a lack of any regulations regarding effectiveness or quality control in formulating these supplements and says that women with a high risk of breast cancer should be particularly cautious.

According to Warren, 23 percent of middle-aged women in the United States use herbal medicines, often to treat premenstrual or menopausal symptoms and premenstrual syndrome, to aid in breastfeeding or to decrease breast cancer risk.

Warren reviewed the literature on herbal supplements and breast cancer risk for his report, which was reviewed by two international experts in the field as well as the five scientists on the BCERF staff.