Soy Doesn’t Pass Test, Post Menopause

HONG KONG—Soy-derived isoflavone supplementation did not improve performance on standard neuropsychological tests and overall quality of life in generally healthy, postmenopausal Chinese women (Menopause, ePub ahead of print, Feb. 2007).
The six-month double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel group trial consisted of community-dwelling women aged 55 to 76 years; of those, 191 eligible women were randomly assigned to receive a daily oral intake of 80 mg soy-derived isoflavones or placebo for six months. Standardized neuropsychological tests of memory, executive function, attention, motor control, language and visual perception, and a global cognitive function assessment were administered individually at baseline and six months after treatment. Of the participants, 88 percent (168 women: 80 among the supplementation group and 88 among the placebo group) completed the trial. Intention-to-treat analysis, conducted for 176 participants with 6-month assessment results, revealed no significant differences in outcome measures between treatment groups. Subgroup analysis among those consuming at least 80 percent of the supplements or placebo (n = 168), and the age groups younger or older than 65 years also indicated no significant differences for any outcome measures. Adverse event complaints were similar in both treatment groups and included mainly gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal problems.