PRESS RELEASE
MENOPAUSAL women who used the medicinal herb black cohosh (Cimicifuga
racemosa) to ease their symptoms need not fear reports of liver damage, the
annual clinical meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists was told.
German-based researcher Dr Belal Naser MD told the conference that an
examination of the evidence offered to support claims that black cohosh
caused liver damage found that allegations of harm were not supported.
The medical conference was held in Chicago on 4 May.
Dr Naser came to the same conclusion as a paper published in the peer-
reviewed medical journal Phytomedicine (2009; 16:72-84) by Professor Rolf
Teschke of the teaching hospital at Goethe University, in Frankfurt.
The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) had conducted an earlier review of the
evidence of 45 cases of harm attributed to black cohosh and ruled out all
but four cases. The evidence offered to support allegations of harm in the
remaining cases was classed as inconclusive, but possible.
Professor Teschke conducted a review of the evidence to support those
remaining four cases. He concluded that there was insufficient evidence to
support even one of the cases of harm attributed to black cohosh.
Black cohosh is used around the world for the relief of the symptoms of
menopause. The top-selling black cohosh product in Australia is Remifemin,
which is made by the Germany company Schaper & Brummer.
In a presentation to the Chicago conference, Dr Naser said that the
evidence forced him to agree with Professor Teschke.
"Teschke's re-evaluation of the four remaining cases considered by the
European Medicines Agency as having a 'possible' or 'probable' causality,
concluded that there was in fact no evidence for a causal relationship
between treatment with black cohosh and the observed liver problems," Dr
Naser said.
Dr Naser applied to the evidence the latest qualitative and quantitative
causality assessment and diagnostic algorithm of the Council for
International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS).
"Due to incomplete data, the case of one patient was not assessable. In the
remaining three cases, one patient diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis had
a
favourable course under continued steroid therapy. The two other
patients, who required liver transplants, received a final diagnosis of
herpetic hepatitis.
“In none of these four was there any causality between treatment with black
cohosh and liver disease.”
Media contact:
Carl D. Thompson
SciNat Australia Pty Ltd (Australian distributor of Remifemin)
19 Taree Street
Burleigh Heads 4220
telephone: 0438 750440
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