Does black cohosh relieve menopause symptoms?

The herb black cohosh is used by many menopausal women to relieve symptoms of menopause especially hot flashes and night sweats as an alternative to estrogen/progesterone hormone replacement therapy.

However, the results of a study published recently found that it was no more effective than placebo (usually an inactive sugar pill) for treating menopause symptoms.
Should this worry you? Probably not! There’s been some criticism of this study. Only one brand of black cohosh was used. Effectiveness of the herb can vary depending on how it is extracted. The two best studied black cohosh extracts are those found in Remifemin and Klimadynon and these have been found to consistently improve menopause symptoms. Also, black cohosh wasn’t found to be harmful to the women that took it.

Black cohosh may not work as fast as HRT but it does not have estrogenic effects which is great for women who want to avoid estrogen. So if you’re using black cohosh and it’s working for you, keep doing what you’re doing - well, until another study tells you otherwise!