HOT FLASH! DRUG ZAPS MENOPAUSE!
AREVOLUTIONARY new drug may allow women to give menopause a miss! The treatment, an injection given every few months, could prevent hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, brain fog and other debilitating symptoms of the change of life!
“The drug couldn’t just delay menopause, it could actually prevent it!” says Dr. Daisy Robinton, a molecular biologist at Oviva Therapeutics, the biotech company developing the treatment. Robinton claims the medication would allow women to choose “if to have menopause or when to have menopause.”
Menopause occurs when levels of hormones, including estrogen, progesterone and anti-müllerian (AMH) plummet, typically between the ages of 45 and 55. About 1.3 million Americans enter menopause each year.
While existing hormone replacement therapies supplement estrogen and progesterone levels, the new drug increases levels of AMH, a hormone produced in the ovaries that plays a role in ovulation and could potentially stop menopause in its tracks.
Research has shown women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which causes higher levels of AMH, tend to start menopause two years later than usual. That was a lightbulb moment for scientists, who realized AMH could be used to slow how quickly eggs are lost and “extend the runway to menopause,” says Robinton. “Ovaries age 2.5 times faster than the rest of the body and from ages 35 to 50 go through a rapid decline,” she adds. The average age at the onset of menopause is 51 in the United States. “The loss of the ovaries causes the rest of the body to decline,” says Robinton. “AMH controls the amount of lag time until menopause and acts as a brake in females.” That means it could also have a protective effect on women’s cardiovascular health and cognitive function.
The drug is being tested in mice for safety and is hoped to move into human trials over the next few years.