What Are The Properties Of Black Cohosh?

The plant "actaea racemosa," commonly known as black cohosh, is native to eastern North American woodland habitats. It was used in Native American medicine for its pain-killing and anti-inflammatory effects. Today, it's mostly used for menopausal symptoms; although research studies are testing the plant's effectiveness at treating several different health issues.

Antioxidant

Methanol extracts from the roots and rhizomes of black cohosh were studied at the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy to determine how well they could protect against DNA damage caused by menadione, a compound sometimes known as Vitamin K3. The extracts were able to scavenge against harmful free radicals and also protected against cellular DNA damage caused by reactive oxygen species.

Breast Cancer

Several studies, such as one published in the November 2007 edition of the "Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology," have studied black cohosh extracts against breast cancer cells in vitro. The Canadian study found that black cohosh killed both estrogen-sensitive and estrogen-insensitive breast cancer cells and inhibited further cell growth on its own, but it also helped increase the cell-killing potency of the chemotherapy drug tamoxifen.
A retrospective observational study of breast cancer patients published in the "International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics" found that black cohosh increased disease-free survival in study participants.

Menopause

Black cohosh is used most often to treat hot flashes and other menopause symptoms, one reason the majority of studies investigating the plant's medicinal uses have focused on those properties. The results of these studies have been mixed. Researchers in Germany published a report in a 1985 issue of "Medizinische Welt" that a double-blind placebo-controlled trial found that women treated with black cohosh had a noticeable decrease in hot flashes, compared to the placebo. Separate studies have not been able to reproduce similar results, although more clinical trials are being undertaken each year.

Osteoporosis

A laboratory study at Washington University in St. Louis found that plant-based estrogens (called phytoestrogens) in black cohosh may inhibit bone loss seen with osteoporosis. The researchers concluded that the estrogens represent the potential for a new class of anti-osteoporosis agents.

Prostate Cancer

In-vitro studies at the University of Göttingen in Germany showed that a black cohosh phenol extract known as petasiphenone decreased proliferation of a specific prostate cancer cell line known as LNCaP.