ORLANDO -- The neurokinin 3 receptor (NK3R) antagonist fezolinetant successfully and safely reduced
hot flashes in postmenopausal women in a phase II clinical trial.
Methodologic lessons learned from
hot flash studies.
It has studied a range of women's health conditions, including the menopausal transition's impact on sleep, cardiovascular health, and
hot flashes. As part of this exploration, data from SWAN has been used to look at who has
hot flashes and why they last so long for some women.
The researchers randomly assigned 327 women aged older than 40 years who were in late menopause transition or post menopause and experiencing at least seven moderate daily
hot flashes to receive either a standardized Chinese medicine acupuncture treatment or a noninsertive, blunt needle sham acupuncture treatment.
With the approval of the antidepressant paroxetine (Brisdelle) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat moderate to severe
hot flashes, women may find the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drug as the non-hormonal answer to end their suffering.
The cause of
hot flashes is not known, but is thought to be due to changes in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain.
Gabapentin also reduces
hot flashes more than placebo (SOR: B, a single RCT); adverse effects include dizziness and somnolence (SOR: C, standard reference).
NEW ORLEANS -- A five-session hypnosis program reduced the frequency and severity of postmenopausal
hot flashes by 80%, according to the results of a randomized controlled trial.
The average
hot flash severity subjectively recorded by patients in the placebo group in the first month was 3.66, in the second month was 3.66 and in the third month was 2.47.
A small pilot study published in the Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology reported that the frequency of
hot flashes was reduced by nearly 60 percent for postmenopausal women who took flaxseed but refrained from taking estrogen.
And when researchers surveyed 377 women who regularly used hormone therapy for at least one year before July 1, 2002 and tried to stop taking it between July 2002 and March 2003, they found that about one in four resumed hormone therapy, most because of troublesome symptoms such as
hot flashes. (5)