Salvia officinalis for menopausal hot flushes: a pilot study

Objective

To examine the effect of Salvia officinalis (sage) vs. placebo on the frequency of hot flushes in perimenopausal complaints. In addition, the study examined duration and severity of hot flushes, overall clinical improvement, Total Menopause Index, additional symptoms, treatment compliance, acceptability and tolerability.

Materials and methods

This study included 39 patients. Patients underwent 8 weeks of treatment. A daily diary card was completed as well as general assessments at weeks 4 and 8.

Results

No significant differences were detected between sage and placebo in respect of frequency, duration or severity of hot flushes. While the differences were not significant, considerably more patients taking sage rated their overall clinical condition improved compared with patients taking placebo.

Subsequent analysis indicates a difference in the frequency of hot flushes per patient. On average, per patient, sage decreases hot flushes by 56.3% per patient and placebo increases hot flushes by 4.8%.

Conclusion

The evidence from this study is that sage is well tolerated. Compliance was high (over 90%) despite a majority (55%) reporting that they disliked the medication. The study was unable to demonstrate superiority over placebo, despite large falls in numbers of flushes experienced by women taking sage. Patients taking placebo reported similar results. Considerably more patients taking sage (75% at week 8) rated their overall clinical condition improved compared with patients taking placebo (47% at week 8), although these differences were not significant.

Additional analysis indicates promising results with sage.