Is Black Cohosh Root safe?

Introduction

Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa or Cimicifuga racemosa) is a herbal remedy commonly used to treat menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes. Despite its popularity, concerns about its safety have been raised, particularly regarding potential adverse effects and its use in patients with hormone-sensitive conditions.

Key Insights

General Safety Profile:
- Clinical studies and postmarketing surveillance suggest that black cohosh is generally safe, with adverse events being rare, mild, and reversible. Common side effects include gastrointestinal upsets and rashes .
- Serious adverse events, such as hepatic and circulatory conditions, have been reported but causality is difficult to establish .
Liver Toxicity:
- There are isolated case reports of severe liver toxicity, including acute liver failure, associated with black cohosh use. However, these cases are rare and further research is needed to confirm causality .
Hematological Effects:
- Animal studies have shown that black cohosh can cause dose-dependent hematological changes, such as non-regenerative macrocytic anemia and increased frequencies of peripheral micronucleated red blood cells.
Estrogenic Activity:
- Multiple studies indicate that black cohosh does not exhibit estrogenic activity. It does not bind to estrogen receptors, up-regulate estrogen-dependent genes, or stimulate the growth of estrogen-dependent tumors .
Safety in Cancer Patients:
- Black cohosh appears to be safe for use in breast cancer patients, showing no estrogenic activity and possibly inhibiting tumor growth. However, more research is needed to confirm these findings .

Conclusion

Overall, black cohosh is considered to be a relatively safe herbal remedy for short-term use, with mild and reversible side effects being the most common. Serious adverse events, particularly liver toxicity, are rare but have been reported. Importantly, black cohosh does not exhibit estrogenic activity, making it a potentially safe option for patients with hormone-sensitive conditions, including breast cancer. However, further research is needed to fully understand its long-term safety profile.

Is Black Cohosh Root safe?

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

A systematic review of the safety of black cohosh

Black cohosh appears to be a safe herbal medicine with rare, mild adverse events, but more serious side effects are rare and difficult to determine causality.

Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa): a systematic review of adverse events.

Black cohosh appears to be relatively safe, but serious safety concerns require further investigation.

The safety of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa, Cimicifuga racemosa)

Black cohosh is a safe herbal therapy for menopausal women when taken for a limited period, but more research is needed to confirm its safety over longer periods and its mechanism of action.

Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa [L.] Nutt.): safety and efficacy for cancer patients

Black cohosh appears to be safe for breast cancer patients without risk for liver disease, but further research is needed to confirm its efficacy for treating hot flashes and its potential role in cancer prevention.

Is black cohosh estrogenic?

Black cohosh may not be estrogenic, as it does not bind to estrogen receptors, stimulate estrogen-dependent gene expression, or stimulate estrogen-dependent tumor growth in animal models.

Black cohosh, safety, and public awareness

Black cohosh use may lead to acute liver failure and encephalopathy, highlighting the need for physicians to report serious adverse reactions to herbal therapies.

An ethanolic extract of black cohosh causes hematological changes but not estrogenic effects in female rodents.

Ethanolic extracts of black cohosh cause hematological changes and delayed puberty in female rodents, but show no estrogenic or anti-estrogenic effects.

Concomitant administration of an isopropanolic extract of black cohosh and tamoxifen in the in vivo tumor model of implanted RUCA-I rat endometrial adenocarcinoma cells.

Black cohosh does not further tumor growth or metastasizing potential in an endometrial cancer animal model, unlike tamoxifen, likely due to the relatively high tamoxifen dose.

Black cohosh: efficacy, safety, and use in clinical and preclinical applications.

Black cohosh is an effective and safe alternative to hormone replacement therapy for treating menopausal symptoms, with a positive safety profile and low toxicity.

Black cohosh, a menopausal remedy, does not have estrogenic activity and does not promote breast cancer cell growth.

Black cohosh does not have estrogenic activity and does not promote breast cancer cell growth, making it a safe alternative for treating menopausal hot flushes.

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