Prospective Memory Assessment,before and after the Use of Concentrated Extract of Soy,in Postmenopausal Women Complaining of Memory Impairment

Objective: To evaluate the performance of a sample of postmenopausal women complaining of decline of prospective memory, undergoing therapy with concentrated extract of soy (CES) for six months, through specific neuropsychological assessment, developed for this purpose. Materials and Methods: A randomized and double-blind study was with 90 women, 12-month amenorrhea, 40 years to 65 years and body mass index (BMI) above 30 kg/m2, whose complaints were reduction of cognitive efficiency. The participants were randomly divided into two treatment groups: Group I— received one capsule of 150 mg extract of soy, with 60 mg isoflavones orally/day;Group II—received one capsule placebo, for six months. All participants underwent a detailed interview, the MMSE, depression scale, and as they were being included in the study, self-perception scales and neuropsychological tests before and after six months of treatment. For analysis purposes, we applied the ANOVA and t-student tests. Results: Our results suggest a possible positive effect regarding the improvement in verbal fluency and executive function tasks of planning and mental flexibility, in women undergoing therapy with concentrated extract of soy in postmenopause. There was no correlation between prospective memory and cognitive performance, and there were only intensity scores of the depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Isoflavones act favorably on the cognitive function, amongst all functions, only on verbal memory and executive function tasks of planning and mental flexibility. The others showed no signs of improvement. We concluded that concentrated extract acts only on some cognitive functions.

Menopausal Symptoms and Sleep Quality During Menopausal Transition and Postmenopause

Background： Menopausal symptoms and sleep difficulty were physiological processes that were affected by genetic and other factors. This study was to investigate the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and sleep quality in menopausal transition （MT） and postmenopause （PM） women in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Methods： A community-based survey of women＇s menopausal symptoms and sleep quality was conducted between July 2012 and May 2013 at six municipal districts of Taiyuan, Shanxi. A sample of 2429 women aged 40-59 years was divided into four groups： early MT, late MT, early PM, and late PM. Sleep quality in the past 2 weeks before the interview was recorded. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Results： The prevalence of menopausal symptoms was 49.8%. Mild, moderate, and severe symptoms were observed in 28.9%, 18.5%, and 2.5% of participants, respectively. The highest prevalence of menopausal symptoms occurred in the early postmenopausal stage; the subsequences were the late postmenopausal stage and the early MT stage. Interestingly, among the 13 items of modified Kupperman index, the five most common symptoms were fatigue, arthralgia and myalgia, decreased libido, insomnia, and nervousness. Meanwhile, 55% perimenopausal women had poor sleep. Conclusions： Menopausal symptoms are common but mild among women in Taiyuan, Shanxi during MT and PM. In these stages, the prevalence of poor sleep is high.