In news that comes as a breath of cool, fresh air for those among us awoken by night sweats and hot flushes, a new drug has been found to lessen those dreaded symptoms of menopause by as much as 73 per cent.
Yes, a trial straight out of the Imperial College in London discovered that women suffering seven or more hot flushes in a day could see this near-three-quarter improvement with the help of a new drug compound called MLE4901.
The “exciting” findings offer hope to the hundreds of thousands suffering from severe symptoms that leave them anxious, depressed and unwell.
“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,” says lead professor Waljit Dhillo from the Department of Medicine at Imperial.
*Menopause marks the end of the menstruation cycle in women.
Most women reach menopause between the ages of 45 and 55, however it can occur earlier as premature or early menopause.*
The drugs, which work by blocking certain receptors in the brain, may offer as a favourable alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which has been found to increase breast cancer and blood clot risk.
“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,” added Professor Dhillo.
Dr Julia Prague, first author of the study, says participants felt “human again” after finding a new way to cope with the symptoms.“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.
“They could sleep through the night, and be less embarrassed in the daytime; they told me they felt ‘human again’.”
A larger-scale and long-term trial is now set to commence.
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