Drug offers hope over misery of hot flushes

‘Game-changing’ discovery brings fresh hope for sufferers without need to undergo HRT

A drug could reduce frequent hot flushes in menopausal women, a study has indicated. Scientists said the findings could offer hope to women plagued by symptoms that leave many sleep-deprived, anxious and depressed. The study found that a new drug was able to reduce the suffering for those who have seven or more hot flushes a day by as much as 73 per cent, and also reduced the severity of the flushes.

A “GAME-CHANGING” wonder drug could reduce frequent hot flushes in up to three quarters of menopausal women, a study has indicated.

Scientists said the “exciting” findings could offer hope to hundreds of thousands of women who are plagued by symptoms which left many sleepdeprived, anxious and depressed.

Each year, around 1.5 million women experience menopausal symptoms, including 400,000 who suffer them to a troublesome extent. But many avoid hormone replacement therapy because it has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer and blood clots.

The study, published in The Lancet, found that a new drug was able to reduce by 73 per cent the hot flushes among women suffering seven or more flushes a day.

The treatment also reduced their severity and impact, the research found.

Scientists said women taking part in the trial reported that they felt “human again” after suffering years of distressing and debilitating symptoms. The average menopause lasts seven years and four in five women suffer hot flushes.

The new drug compound, called MLE4901, tested on women who suffered severe flushes, works by targeting receptors in the brain, blocking a chemical called neurokinin B (NKB).

Researchers at Imperial College said it could offer hope to women who were currently enduring misery but avoiding HRT because it was unsuitable or due to safety concerns.

The study, funded by the Medical Research Council and the National Institute of Health Research, involved women with severe hot flushes who were given the drug to try to relieve their symptoms.

Prof Waljit Dhillo, from Imperial College, said: “If a woman is having more than seven flushes a day and the drug is getting rid of three-quarters of them, that’s pretty life-changing. For day-to-day living and work, that’s a significant impact on quality of life. If we can reduce flushing by 73 per cent it’s a game-changer for those patients.”

The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involved 28 menopausal women aged between 40 and 62 years old, who experienced seven or more hot flushes a day and had not had a period in at least 12 months.

Participants were randomly chosen to either first receive an 80mg daily dose of the drug compound, originally developed by AstraZeneca and licensed to Millendo Therapeutics, or a placebo over the course of four weeks, before switching to receive the other tablet for a month. The researchers found MLE4901 significantly reduced

‘It was so exciting to see the lives of those who participated in the study become transformed’

the average total number of flushes during the four-week treatment period, as well as their severity, compared with when the patients received the placebo for four weeks.

It also helped to reduce the impact of hot flushes on the women’s lives, for example by improving their sleep, the findings, which were presented to the annual meeting of the Endocrine Sociey, in Florida, showed.

Prof Dhillo said: “A lot of women are choosing not to take HRT because it is oestrogen-based. This new drug is a pill which blocks the NK3 receptor, so it won’t have the side effects associated with oestrogen.”

Dr Julia Prague, first author of the study, said: “It was so exciting to see the lives of those who participated in the study become transformed when their flushes improved once taking the new drug.”

Elaine Barker, 61, a participant in the study, said: “Anything that could improve the quality of my life would be worthwhile. When taking the tablets my flushes noticeably reduced and I woke less often at night and my quality of sleep improved.”