Hot Flashes
Veozah Is A New Non-Hormonal Drug for Hot Flashe…
On May 12, 2023 the FDA announced that it "approved Veozah (fezolinetant), an oral medication for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms, or hot flashes, caused by menopause...It works…
Is Chasteberry a Natural Way to Ease Hot Flashes…
Hot flashes are the signature symptom of menopause. Some women are barely troubled by them, while others are incapacitated. Most women in menopause would like to find a way to ease hot flashes, though…
Acupuncture Relieves Symptoms of Menopausal Wome…
Menopausal women each have their own experiences of this challenging time. However, most women do not enjoy the hot flashes and night sweats. What can they do to minimize the disruption? Some women ta…
Show 1137: What Should You Know About Women̵…
Viagra became a household name almost as soon as the drug was introduced. Before that, though, few men were willing to talk about erectile dysfunction. When it comes to women’s sexual health, we see…
Can You Cool Your Hot Flashes with Maca?
Just because menopause is a natural part of life doesn't mean it is easy. Some women have intense hot flashes for only a few years, but others may suffer for a decade or more. Estrogen is the gold sta…
Why Is Antidepressant Withdrawal So Hard?
It is estimated that one out of every eight Americans takes an antidepressant medication (JAMA Internal Medicine, Feb. 2017). According to the New York Times, roughly 25 million Americans have been ta…
Can You Prevent Wrinkles with HRT?
Hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, has been controversial for quite some time. In the 20th century, women were often admonished that taking estrogen and progestin after menopause would not only ease…
Why Is Hormone Replacement Therapy So Controvers…
Every year, about two million women enter menopause. While some women sail through with minimal trouble, many if not most suffer with hot flashes, night sweats and other symptoms. Doctors may offer th…
Are Menopausal Women Taking a Big Risk with HRT?
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) does not appear to increase the risk of death from either heart disease or cancer. That's what researchers concluded by analyzing data from the long-running Women's H…
Can an Antidepressant Really Help with Hot Flash…
Menopause offers women numerous challenges, but the most significant symptom is probably hot flashes (vasomotor symptoms in doctor-speak). This may also be among the most variable symptoms. Some women…
Will Antidepressant Medications Increase Your Ri…
Antidepressants are among the most popular pills in the drugstore. A research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine (Dec. 12, 2016) noted that one in six adults take psychiatric drugs. Antidepressant medic…
Will Plant Products Cool Your Hot Flashes?
Women suffering from menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats often try natural approaches such as herbal remedies or soy supplements. The medical community has been divided about the …
How to Ease Hot Flashes with Acupuncture
Menopause is frequently accompanied by symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats that can take a toll on a woman's quality of life. How can they ease hot flashes? HRT Can Ease Hot Flashes but Carr…
How Acupuncture Helps Women with Breast Cancer
Women undergoing treatment for breast cancer are often troubled by hot flashes as a consequence of the treatment. Unfortunately, the usual and most effective treatment for hot flashes is estrogen, whi…
Pine Bark Extract Cools Hot Flashes
Many women find that hots flashes and night sweats during the menopause transition detract seriously from quality of life. The question then becomes how can they be managed? Managing Hot Flashes: The…
Electroacupuncture Treatment for Hot Flashes Fol…
Women who have been treated for breast cancer are frequently faced with a dreadful dilemma: they are plagued with terrible hot flashes, but the hormone treatment usually used for relief from this symp…
SSRIs for Hot Flashes Raise the Risk of Fracture…
Commonly prescribed antidepressants called SSRIs are linked to fractures in older women. These drugs have become popular to treat the menopausal symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats. That's becaus…
Pine Bark Extract Offers Relief from Hot Flashes
Anyone suffering through hot flashes--or hot flushes, technically--knows just how uncomfortable and distracting they can be. Millions of women are going through menopause and looking for ways to manag…
French Pine Bark May Cool Hot Flashes
Q. I saw a recent question about calming hot flashes, and it inspired me to share my experience with the herbal remedy pycnogenol. After a few weeks of 15 to 20 hot flashes per day, I found a small me…
Hot Flashes May Bother Women for Many Years
Doctors used to tell women they'd be done with hot flashes and other troublesome menopausal symptoms within a couple of years, but new research offers a more disturbing and accurate answer. In a 17-ye…
Maca Made Hot Flashes Disappear
Q. Thank you for writing about maca for hot flashes. I took a capsule twice a day for a month, and my hot flashes disappeared during the day. I also used to suffer from intense night sweats, about fou…
Non-Hormonal Drug to Quell Hot Flashes Has Uncom…
Q. I read that there is a new non-hormonal medicine coming out in November 2013 for hot flashes. It is called Brisdelle. What do you know about it? What side effects should I be aware of? A. The FDA a…
Use HRT for Hot Flash Symptoms, Not for Maintain…
Hormone replacement therapy is not helpful for keeping women healthy. That's the conclusion from a long-term follow-up study of two groups participating in the Women's Health Initiative. For decades, …
New Prescription for Hot Flashes
The FDA has just approved an old antidepressant called paroxetine to ease symptoms of menopause. Although this medication was originally prescribed for depression under the brand name Paxil, it will n…
New FDA Drug Approval: Blessing or Boondoggle?
On June 28, 2013 the FDA announced its approval of Brisdelle (paroxetine) "to treat moderate to severe hot flashes (vasomotor symptoms) associated with menopause." In its news release about Brisdelle,…
Natural Approaches Can Ease Hot Flashes
Most women going through menopause suffer from hot flashes. These surges of uncomfortable heat, flushing and sweating can range from disconcerting to debilitating. Some women experience such flushes m…
Soy Supplements Fail to Foil Hot Flashes
Soy-based products have long been promoted for easing menopausal symptoms, especially hot flashes. Part of the reason is that soy doesn't pose the same risks as prescription hormone replacement therap…
HRT for Symptoms Only
The benefits of hormone replacement therapy to prevent chronic diseases do not justify the risks. That is the conclusion the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force drew from a review of major studies. Do…
Black Cohosh Helped Hot Flashes
Q. You had a question from a reader having trouble with hot flashes. I too was on hormones and finally got off, despite the hot flashes coming back. Remifemin-brand black cohosh has helped me a lot. I…
HRT for Hot Flashes, Not Heart Disease
Not content to aggravate urologists and men concerned about prostate cancer, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has now made a recommendation that is likely to rile gynecologists and postmenopaus…
Premarin Controversy Continues
There are few drugs in modern history that have stimulated greater controversy than Premarin. Since its FDA approval in the early 1940s more than 30 billion doses have been dispensed. The estrogens in…
Soy Doesn’t Help Hot Flashes
Increasing soy intake does not appear to help menopausal women handle hot flashes. Ever since the Women's Health Initiative study revealed that hormone replacement therapy is associated with a greater…
Flaxseed Doesn’t Help Hot Flashes
Flaxseed has been recommended as an alternative strategy to estrogen for cooling hot flashes during menopause. Breast cancer patients who experience hot flashes as a consequence of their treatment are…
Lexapro for Hot Flashes
Women who suffer from hot flashes at menopause are frequently desperate for relief. Hormonal therapy used to be the gold standard for treating menopausal symptoms, but it is not appropriate for all wo…
HRT Risks Reassessed
Hormone Replacement Therapy appears to pose a greater risk of breast cancer than previously thought. This conclusion comes from the Women's Health initiative, a large, government-funded study that was…
Cinnamon Helps Hot Flashes but Harms Liver
Q. I've been using a lot of cinnamon for the taste on my morning granola and yogurt. My hot flashes have ceased and my cholesterol is down. Unfortunately, my liver enzymes are elevated. I was told to …
Banishing Hot Flashes
Q. I have a condition (Wegener's Granulomatosis) that had made me miserable for years and stumped several doctors. The symptom that troubled me was like hot flashes, but instead of flashing they were …
Natural Remedies For Hot Flashes
Q. Help! My menopausal hot flashes are becoming unbearable and debilitating. I have tried many remedies. Some helped a little (like cutting down on caffeine), but others, like soy, did nothing. I work…
Are Natural Hormones Better?
Three years ago the world of women's health turned upside down. That was when a large study, the Women's Health Initiative, showed that hormone replacement therapy could have serious health consequenc…
HRT Bandwagon Went Down Wrong Road
If physicians are feeling betrayed by opinion leaders in their profession, their distress is understandable. For years, doctors heard from colleagues they trusted that hormone replacement therapy (HRT…