Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society Vol. 22, No. 6, pp. 587/588 DOI: 10.1097/gme.0000000000000449 * 2015 by The North American Menopause Society
EDITORIAL Antidepressants decrease hot flashes and improve life quality
n this issue of Menopause, Caan et al1 reported on the quality-of-life impact of hormonal and nonhormonal hot flash treatments on healthy perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Based on this article and another article published in 2014 regarding the same clinical trial,2 they concluded that both low-dose estrogen and venlafaxine, compared with placebo treatment, decrease hot flashes and lead to improved quality of life. Although there is a long history of hot flashes being treated with estrogen-based therapies, the use of antidepressant medications for the management of menopausal hot flashes started more recently. Antidepressants were first noted to decrease hot flashes in the 1990s, initially among women with a history of breast cancer (the treatment of which often increases the risk of vasomotor symptoms caused by blockade of estrogen receptors or reduction of circulating estrogen). Independent anecdotal observations suggested that four selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressant drugs (venlafaxine, paroxetine, fluoxetine, and sertraline) reduced hot flashes. Pilot studies followed,3
EDITORIAL Antidepressants decrease hot flashes and improve life quality
n this issue of Menopause, Caan et al1 reported on the quality-of-life impact of hormonal and nonhormonal hot flash treatments on healthy perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Based on this article and another article published in 2014 regarding the same clinical trial,2 they concluded that both low-dose estrogen and venlafaxine, compared with placebo treatment, decrease hot flashes and lead to improved quality of life. Although there is a long history of hot flashes being treated with estrogen-based therapies, the use of antidepressant medications for the management of menopausal hot flashes started more recently. Antidepressants were first noted to decrease hot flashes in the 1990s, initially among women with a history of breast cancer (the treatment of which often increases the risk of vasomotor symptoms caused by blockade of estrogen receptors or reduction of circulating estrogen). Independent anecdotal observations suggested that four selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressant drugs (venlafaxine, paroxetine, fluoxetine, and sertraline) reduced hot flashes. Pilot studies followed,3
