The report is disappointing news for women seeking alternatives to estrogen-progestin hormone supplements, which have been linked to breast cancer and heart problems.

The yearlong study of 351 women suffering from hot flashes and night sweats found that those given black cohosh got about the same amount of relief as those who took a placebo. And those groups saw nothing close to the improvement in women on hormones.

"It's disappointing news," said Katherine Newton, an epidemiologist who helped lead the study, funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. "It would be nice to offer something safe and effective."

The study was conducted at Seattle-based Group Health, a health plan, and was published yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Black cohosh - an herb that is a member of the buttercup family and is commonly given to ease menopause symptoms - is available in pill or liquid form and is sold over the counter in many health-food stores and over the Internet.

It is among a host of supplements including soy, wild yam, red clover and St. John's wort that have been tried for relief of hot flashes and night sweats, but studies almost universally have found they don't work.

In the latest study, some participants were given black cohosh, while others received hormone supplements, a placebo or a botanical treatment that included black cohosh
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