Background and Aim: Hot flashes as an inevitable bothersome side effect of cancer therapy is an unsolved health problem in breast cancer survivors that can clearly affect quality of life of patients. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of distilled of chicory and fumitory as a conventional herbal remedy in Traditional Persian Medicine with venlafaxine on improving of hot flashes in breast cancer patients.
Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, participants by block randomization allocated in two groups: those who consumed distillate of chicory and fumitory (DCF), and those who took venlafaxine. The patients in two groups recorded the number and severity of hot flashes in daily diary one week before starting the intervention (baseline week). After that, they started to drink DCF (150 cc twice daily) or venlafaxine (37.5 mg in first week and 75 mg in the next three weeks) for four weeks, and accordingly completed the daily diary.
Results: 24 patients in DCF group and 17 patients in venlafaxine group completed the study. After four weeks, frequency of hot flashes in DCF group was 30.70% (p-value
Key words: Hot flashes, breast cancer, chicory, fumitory, venlafaxine
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