What herbal medicines have been studied for menstrual problems? Are they effective and safe?
Herbal medicines have been studied in clinical trials for two types of menstrual problems, premenstrual syndrome and menstrual pain (dysmennorrhea). The results of these studies are presented in Table 3. What herbal medicines have been studied to help with breastfeeding? Are they effective? Very little study has been conducted examining herbal medicines used for the treatment of breastfeeding disorders. Four trials have examined cabbage leaves and an extract made from them to relieve engorgement for breastfeeding women. None of these studies found this treatment to be effective. Breastfeeding women are advised to use caution when considering the use of any drug, conventional or herbal. This is because some drugs can enter into breast milk and, in some cases, there is also concentration of the drugs in breast milk. Because of the lack of studies in this area, as well as the problems with the quality of many herbal medicines, women should be very cautious about using herbal (and other) m
