|
ANN ARBOR,
MI - More than 50 percent of women entering into menopause
know the feeling all-too-well. That sudden rush of uncomfortable
and often embarrassing heat that seems to take over your body, causing
your heart to race and your skin to redden.
To control
hot
flashes in the past, women used estrogen replacement therapy
during this natural stage of menopause. However, recent concerns
about the safety of estrogen use have left many women looking for
alternatives.
Breast cancer
oncologists at the University
of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have been searching
for another way to treat hot flashes - by studying a popular drug
type used for the treatment of depression.
The search
for an alternative treatment for patients who suffer from hot flashes
and have a history of breast cancer has been going on for several
years by investigators who are now at the U-M Cancer Center.
"In the
breast cancer field, we've been concerned for years about giving
estrogen
replacement therapy to women who have a history of breast cancer,"
says Daniel F. Hayes, M.D., clinical director of the Breast Oncology
Program at the U-M Cancer Center. U-M breast cancer oncologist knew
that the use of estrogen increased the risk of a woman developing
certain forms of cancer, including breast cancer.
Although the
exact triggers for hot flashes are not completely understood, experts
do know that they are a result of a decrease in the female hormone
estrogen during menopause. It's believed that estrogen production
affects the part of the brain that controls the body's temperature.
The body's "thermostat" prevents us from overheating or
freezing in various environments.
"With
menopause, there's a lack of estrogen that causes this thermostat
to become irregular, which causes women to be substantially sensitive
to temperature changes that would normally not bring about a sudden
change in the body's temperature," explains Hayes.
That's why
estrogen replacement therapy had previously been so successful in
treating hot flashes. Estrogen helps reduce the incident of hot
flashes almost completely in 80 percent to 90 percent of women.
But with concern
over the safety of estrogen replacement therapy, especially for
women who have had breast cancer, it became important to find a
safer, non-hormonal treatment.
In a step toward
finding an alternative treatment for hot flashes, experts from several
different centers have discovered that a class of drugs used to
treat depression may be an effective treatment. The drugs, called
selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI), work well because
with depression and hot flashes, serotonin, a major neurotransmitters
found in the synapses of the brain, isn't functioning correctly.
Several SSRI
drugs, such as Prozac, Paxil and Effixor, decrease hot flashes in
about 50 percent of women. So, while SSRI drugs are not as effective
as estrogen, they appear to perform better than a placebo.
Hot flash study
participant Deborah Stafford has noticed a steady decrease in her
hot flashes once she began taking Paxil. Initially, Stafford came
to the U-M Health System
after being diagnosed with breast cancer. That diagnosis then led
to her taking a drug called Tamoxifin, which is commonly used to
stop estrogen production in breast cancer patients. But immediately
after she began taking the drug, the hot flashes started.
"We laugh
about hot flashes, but really they're quite uncomfortable,"
Stafford explains. "My face would turn red, it would look rather
moist and sometimes they actually made me feel exhausted. It was
very hard to work through them."
After participating
in the two-month study, Stafford says she feels like herself again
and plans to continue to take Paxil to control her hot flashes.
For women who
don't want to take drugs, there are still other options to help
control hot flashes such as soy. However, Hayes warns that soy does
contain a weaker estrogen-like product and there is little known
about its effects.
Since the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), does not tightly regulate a lot of
drug additives and natural remedies, Hayes further suggests that
you talk with your health care provider before you decide to use
drug additives or natural remedies.
For more information, visit the following Web sites:
UMHS Adult
Health Advisor: Hot Flashes
www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/aha_htflsh_crs.htm
UMHS Adult
Health Advisor: Menopause
www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/aha_menps_crs.htm
UMHS Obstetrics
and Gynecology: Hot Flashes
www.med.umich.edu/obgyn/resdir/REImanual/Hot_Flashes.pdf
The American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
www.acog.org
Written
by Krista Hopson
E-mail
this information to a friend
Recent
Press Releases
Return
to Medical School Home Page
|
