Wednesday 20 December 2023

First Flush?

Onset of the menopause causes misery for many women. Hot flushes and night sweats reduce their quality of life as well as their productivity. The only treatment thus far has been hormone replacement therapy (HRT). HRT is not, however, appropriate for women with family histories of breast and ovarian cancer. It's also contra-indicated for patients with high blood pressure. Treatment with Veoza (fezolinetant) has, however, recently been approved for use in both the US and the UK (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/18/veoza-fezolinetant-menopause-drug-hot-flushes-wins-uk-approval). Veoza relieves menopausal symptoms, like hot flushes, but isn't a hormonal treatment. Additional research needs, however, to be done. For example, women over the age of 65 have not yet been studied in terms of their response to Veoza. There's a (remote?) possibility, that extended treatment in this cohort, could have detrimental effects. This needs to be explored, along with other issues (like ethnicity).

2 comments:

Paul Brain said...

If you have to pay for the drug, however, it costs more than £400 pa. That doesn't seem fair.

Paul Brain said...

That should have been £400 per month!

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