Hot Flashes No More?

For women who suffer from the discomfort and embarrassment of hot flashes but don’t want to take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) because they fear cancer or other side-effects, there is new cause for hope -- a non-hormonal treatment for hot flashes.

Actually, non-hormonal treatments have been around for a while. Vitamin E is one that is fairly safe, but which only works in a small minority of women. Herbs such as black cohosh, red clover and soy work in even fewer. And prescription non-hormonal drugs such as Bellergal® and Clonidine can help, but are known to have risky side effects.

Now, a class of drugs generally used for depression -- the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) -- have been found to relieve hot flashes without significant side effects. It was while taking Prozac, Zoloft or Effexor for depression that some women reported less hot flashes, a welcome side effect that warranted further investigation.

Dr. Charles Loprinzi, a Mayo Clinic breast cancer specialist, had been looking for a non-hormonal treatment to prescribe to his patients for years. So Loprinzi studied 102 women in a randomized, double-blind, two-month study. Half of the women took the antidepressant Effexor and half did not. The doctor found that the women who took Effexor once a day had a 60 percent decrease in the number of hot flashes.

In last week's American Medical News, Dr. Loprinzi commented, "The clear message is that now many women with breast cancer do not have to suffer with their hot flashes and that women who want a nonestrogenic choice of treatment now have one."