About 80% of women will experience hot flashes during menopause, and new treatments are needed Now, two clinical trials suggest that a drug targeting particular brain cells can ease hot flashes Drugs like elinzanetant might also help postmenopausal women sleep and might even slow menopause-linked weight gain THURSDAY, Aug. 22, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- A drug under development could provide a much needed option for women seeking relief from hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms, new research shows. The drug, elinzanetant, cut the frequency of hot flashes by an average of about 56% after one month of use, and by more than 65% after three months.
Overall, about 62% of more than 300 postmenopausal women in two trials experienced "at least a 50% reduction in [hot flash] frequency," wrote a team led by Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton , from University of Virginia Health in Charlottesville. The drug also appeared to reduce the severity of hot flashes.
The two trials were funded by elinzanetant's maker, Bayer, and published Aug. 22 in the Journal of the American Medical Association . Based in part on these results, the company announced earlier this month that it had filed a new drug application for elinzanetant with the U.
S. Food and Drug Administration. According to Pinkerton's team, up to 80% of women will experience hot flashes -- medically known as menopausal vasomotor symptoms (VSM) -- during menopause , sometimes lasting for many years.
Hot flashes can be debilitating and difficult to.