Menopause drug cuts hot flushes in just three days, research finds
A new menopause drug could dramatically cut hot flushes and sleeplessness in just three days, scientists say.
Scientists hailed the results as “game-changing,” holding out hopes for a new alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Research by Imperial College London found that the drug compounds, tested on menopausal women, cut the number of hot flushes by almost three quarters.
And women taking the drugs reported an 82 per cent decrease in sleep interruptions, and a 77 per cent drop in lost concentration.
Each year around 1.5 million women experience menopausal symptoms, including 400,000 who suffer them to a troublesome extent.
But many shun HRT, because it has been linked with an increased risk of breast cancer and blood clots.
At a glance | The four types of menopause
The trial, which was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, involved 37 menopausal women aged between 40 and 62 years old - and who experienced seven or more hot flushes a day.
The average menopause lasts for seven years, and four in five women will suffer hot flushes.
Participants were randomly chosen to first receive either an 80mg daily dose of the drug, called MLE4901, or a placebo over the course of a four-week period, before the groups were swapped.
Early findings from the trial showed the compound significantly reduced the average total number of flushes during the four-week treatment period.
The drug works by targeting receptors in the brain, blocking a chemical called neurokinin B (NKB).
The new analysis shows significant differences were felt in just three days.
The menopause myth buster every woman should read
Professor Waljit Dhillo, from the Department of Medicine at Imperial, said: "We already knew this compound could be a game-changer for menopausal women, and get rid of three-quarters of their hot flushes in four weeks. But this new analysis confirms the beneficial effect is obtained very quickly - within just three days."
The specific compound was found to affect liver function, so future research will focus on similar drugs, which also block NKB but do not appear to carry these side effects.
“This class of new drugs may provide women with a much-needed alternative to HRT,” Prof Dhillo said.
For many menopausal women, hot flushes are an uncomfortable inconvenience.
But a significant number suffer to such an extent that bed sheets end up drenched in sweat, while relentless insomnia can leave them struggling to cope during the day.
Analysis of brain tissue from post-menopausal women has previously revealed elevated levels of NKB in their brains, while giving the chemical to younger patients has been found to induce flushing.
The new study found the drug was as effective at improving daytime flush symptoms as it was at tackling those at night.
Dr Julia Prague, first author of the study, said: "As NKB has many targets of action within the brain the potential for this drug class to really improve many of the symptoms of the menopause, such as hot flushes, difficulty sleeping, weight gain, and poor concentration, is huge. To see the lives of our participants change so dramatically and so quickly was so exciting, and suggests great promise for the future of this new type of treatment."
Q&A | HRT and breast cancer
The class of compound was originally developed as a drug for schizophrenia.
The research, published in the journal Menopause, was funded by the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research.
