Symposium to Present Latest Findings on Natural Products for Women’s Health

The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy will host a symposium Oct. 20 on how botanical dietary supplements can benefit women’s health.

The eighth annual event, sponsored by the Natural Health Research Institute and the American Nutrition Association, will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 833 S. Wood St.

The scientific symposium will examine the safety and efficacy of dietary supplements and botanicals in women’s health care and the cost-effectiveness of natural products. A panel discussion will follow the presentations. Continuing education credits are available for pharmacists, nutritionists and nurses.

Presenters include:

• Tori Hudson, medical director, Institute of Women’s Health & Integrative Medicine, Portland, Ore., on evidence-based natural solutions to symptoms related to perimenopause and menopause.
• Richard van Breemen, director, UIC/NIH Botanical Center for Dietary Supplements Research, on safety and efficacy of botanical dietary supplements as alternatives to hormone replacement therapy.
• Harry G. Preuss, professor of biochemistry, medicine and pathology at Georgetown University, on clinical studies of managing obesity with natural dietary supplements.
• Dennis Lubahn, director, Missouri University Center for Phytonutrient & Phytochemical Studies, on using botanicals, hedgehogs and oxysterols in the prevention of human disease.
• William Helferich, director, Botanical Research Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, on isoflavones and breast cancer growth and progression.
• Elizabeth Lipski, director of doctoral studies, Hawthorn University, on natural approaches to treating irritable bowel syndrome and constipation.

Millions of women use natural products — primarily botanical supplements — to maintain or improve their health, particularly during menopause or PMS, van Breemen says. In 1999, UIC became one of the first centers funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements and the National Center on Complementary and Alternative Medicine to conduct research on botanical dietary supplements.

The UIC Botanical Center’s studies are addressing the safety of botanicals and their efficacy in reducing the frequency and intensity of hot flashes and other somatic symptoms in menopausal women. The center also tests botanicals for their effect on estrogen metabolism and estrogen carcinogenesis. Among the plants that have been or are currently under study are black cohosh, red clover, chaste berry, valerian, hops and dong quai.

Registration for the symposium is $30 for the general public, $55 for pharmacists, and $15 for students. For more information, contact Nancy Henkel at (312) 413-9634.