Researchers Identify New Treatment for Hot Flashes in Menopausal Women

Antidepressant drug 'venlafaxine' is as effective as estrogen therapy in treating hot flashes in menopausal women, finds a study.

Hot flashes are vasomotor symptoms (VMS) of menopause with a feeling of sudden warmth in the body and profuse sweating. Various treatments including hormone therapy provide short-term relief from unbearable heat and frequent episodes of drastic temperature changes in the body. However, these are not free from health risks, driving women to look for non-hormonal alternatives. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) identified a non-hormonal treatment using Venlafaxine Hydrochloride that helps reduce hot flashes and night sweats suffered by menopausal women.

Venlafaxine are commonly prescribed for people with depression, anxiety disorders and social phobia.  Experts found intake of these drugs in low doses is as efficient as estrogen therapy.

The study involved 339 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women experiencing inconvenient VMS and were given either low-dose of estrogen pills- estradiol, low-dose of venlafaxine or placed in a placebo. The subjects were observed for nearly eight weeks to compare the efficacy of both treatments in lessening the number of hot flashes and night sweats. 

It was noted the frequency of hot flashes reduced by 56.9 percent in women under hormone therapy and 47.6 percent for those who were given venlafaxine. While, participants from the placebo group had 28.6 percent decrease in the occurrence of hot flashes. Overall, the frequency of the symptoms further reduced by 2.3 and 1.8 times per day with estradiol and venlafaxine, respectively. The findings also revealed estradiol is slightly better than venlafaxine in controlling VMS but, their differences are almost negligible to have any clinical significance.

"Our new findings provide critical data for physicians and women making treatment decisions for hot flashes and night sweats. Our data show that first-line hormonal and non-hormonal pharmacological treatments are well-tolerated and effective options for alleviating symptoms," said Hadine Joffe, study author and director of the Women's Hormone and Aging Research Program at BWH in a news release.

According to the study reports, hot flashes occur in about 80 percent of the women who are about to have their last menstrual period. These conditions generally induce women to seek medical care and treatments to handle emotional and physical symptoms due to major hormonal transitions.

More information is available online in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

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