Popular herb awaits FDA approval.

• Position: Menopause - Brief Article

It is a common herb that more than 10,000,000 American women use to ease menopausal symptoms. Its benefits are touted all over the Internet. Yet, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved it as a drug, and researchers are unsure of its effects on the human body.

"There is a lot that is unknown about black cohosh," notes Ed Sauter, associate professor of surgery at the University of Missouri-Columbia. "One of the main problems is that what is available at the store is very unreliable. We tested a number of capsules and found that the concentration of chemical components differed from capsule to capsule. We need to research this question and determine if black cohosh can improve the quality of people's lives as some claim."

In order to demonstrate if it has any effect, researchers need to know the pathway that the herbal supplement...