MAYBE: A Fertility Drug MIGHT Be Effective Against Hot Flashes

RedTracker| Before the Internet, this news wouldn’t have hit the public radar. This breaking information is as preliminary as the research gets.

U.S. News and World Report reports that in a letter to the editor in the Sept. 17 a letter to the editor in the Sept. 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Netherlands report that in three cases, the injectable medication cetrorelix (Cetrotide) helped ease hot flash symptoms.

“This letter describes three cases and has no controls. This drug works on receptors in the brain and no one knows what the long-term consequences might be,” said Dr. Lila Nachtigall, director of the Women’s Wellness Program at the NYU Langone Medical Center, and a professor at the New York University School of Medicine in New York City. via U.S. News and World Report: Fertility Drug Shows Potential Against Hot Flashes.

Dr. Nachtigall’s points are well taken. However, she proceeds to “brush off” this new drug possibility, saying that better options are available — without saying what they are. 

A quick Google of Dr. Nachtigall brings me to her belief that hormone replacement therapy is an option for menopausal women. She has answered my questions about pro or co HRT vs. soy and other natural options for fighting hot flashes.

Regular readers know that I take bioidentical hormones, having sat with my doctor and run a complete risk and reward assessment of being on long-term hormone therapy, given my family medical history. There is no “free ride” on this topic — with or without HRT. See Bioidentical Hormones Have Redefined Me.