A recent study in the medical journal Menopause* observed that "Insomnia is a frequently reported complaint in menopausal women." A study was done with 21 women aged 45-65 with 11 being given estrogen and 10 given progesterone over a 25-day period to determine whether either treatment would aid their sleep.

This was done regardless of the risk of taking either drug over the long term of, among other things, their getting cancer. Being an "establishment" study, no group were given soy as a more benign alternative. Obviously the estrogen-progesterone risk effect would not be present in a short term study. But, if it were successful, it presumably would encourage women to take it for longer periods.

The study showed that both groups of women "significantly improved 'their perceived] quality of sleep, reduced the estimated number of awakenings, and increased sleep duration."

The women in the test were not chosen on the basis of their previously having reported sleep problems, so how much subjectivity was involved was unknown. Further, "Dennerstein et al in the journal Obstet. Gynecol. vol. 96, 2000" had pointed out that aging (emphasis added) is associated with insomnia. So hormone replacement therapy is not necessarily a treatment that will have a positive effect on insomnia in women." Much ado about nothing?

Also not tested was the effect of melatonin on their sleep patterns. Why not? One might guess that neither soy nor melatonin are in the mainstream of medical practice. Well, give them a few more years.

*Drs. Montplaisir, Lorraine, Denesle, et al, Menopause, vol. 8, 2001