Compound or practice · Supplement
Black Cohosh
A menopausal hot-flash botanical with genuinely divided trials and rare liver-safety signals.
- Overall grade
- Grade C
- Last revised
- 1
- graded outcome
- 0
- references listed
A structured monograph in Prometheus's bundled library. Its grades are the monograph's own reading of the evidence, not a peer-reviewed review.
2 at grade C — 2 graded rows
What is known
Each outcome with its grade (how strong the evidence is, A to D), the size of the effect where the entry records one, and how often studies agree.
- Menopausal hot flashesEvidence grade C
Divided trials
Smallmixed
Conditions
How the entry reads its effect on diagnosed conditions: the direction first, then the grade. Never a substitute for the person who treats you.
- Menopause symptoms May improveEvidence grade CInconsistentGrade C
What is uncertain
Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.
- Thin evidence: Menopausal hot flashes (grade C).
The evidence in words
What it is
Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) is used for menopausal symptoms, especially hot flashes.
How it works
Non-estrogenic; proposed serotonergic and other central actions on thermoregulation.
What the evidence shows
Trials split between modest hot-flash relief and no better than placebo; meta-analyses are inconclusive. Rare reports of liver injury prompted regulatory cautions. A reasonable trial for some, with monitoring.
How to use it
Standardized extract (e.g., ~40 mg) daily; reassess after a couple of months.
Safety & interactions
Rare hepatotoxicity reports — stop if any liver symptoms; avoid in liver disease.
Bottom line
Might help hot flashes, might not — the evidence can't decide. Worth a monitored trial; stop at any sign of liver trouble.
How it is used
As the entry records it, from the studies it summarises. Not a recommendation for you — doses that suit a trial population may not suit you.
- Standard
- ~40 mg standardized daily.
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- Black Cohosh for Menopausal hot flashesEvidence grade C — Divided trialsEvidence grade C
- Black Cohosh for Menopause symptomsEvidence grade C — InconsistentEvidence grade C
- Black Cohosh: dosage and how to take it~40 mg standardized daily.Evidence grade C
- Black Cohosh: side effects, safety & interactionsRare hepatotoxicity reports — stop if any liver symptoms; avoid in liver disease.Evidence grade C
Sources
This entry lists no references of its own.
Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.