SERUM-LIPID AND LIPOPROTEIN LEVELS IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN - SHORT-COURSE EFFECT OF CAIGUA

The present study was designed to determine lipid profiles in postmenopausal women, as well as the effect of short-term increasing oral doses of dehydrated natural caigua (Cycladin(R)) on serum cholesterol levels, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, and triglycerides levels during 12 weeks of treatment. Eighteen premenopausal and twenty-four postmenopausal women were studied. The family and personal histories of dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity were similar in pre- and postmenopausal women, as were body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist/hip ratios, and blood pressure. The postmenopausal women were shorter. Postmenopausal women had higher plasma cholesterol levels, higher LDL cholesterol levels, higher triglyceride levels, and lower HDL cholesterol levels than did the premenopausal women. In postmenopausal women, six capsules daily of dehydrated caigua was the study's only dose that effectively reduced total serum cholesterol levels and LDL cholesterol levels and also significantly increased serum HDL cholesterol levels. At the end of 12 weeks of treatment, serum cholesterol levels were 22% below pretreatment values and serum LDL cholesterol was 33% below initial values, whereas serum HDL cholesterol levels increased to >33% of initial values. Daily treatment with four capsules, two capsules, or placebo failed to modify lipid profiles effectively in postmenopausal women. Treatment with six capsules of caigua daily during 12 weeks reduced the rate of hypercholesterolemia from 75% at the beginning of the study to 12.5% at the end of treatment; similarly, it reduced the rate of hyper-LDL cholesterolemia from 75 to 12.5% and hypo-HDL cholesterolemia from 62.5 to 12.5%. Treatment with caigua had no effect on the prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia. We conclude that our patients with menopause had different lipid profiles from those of the premenopausal women. Menopause alters the lipid profile, and treatment with caigua, a natural plant that is administered dehydrated and capsulated, can reverse dyslipidemia in the postmenopausal woman.