New NIH Trials Test Treatments for Hot Flashes, Night Sweats

Layne Lowery

Are hormone changes taking your body on a wild ride? If so, you’ll be glad to know that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) plans to establish a multi-site research network to study promising treatments for common menopause symptoms—including hot flashes and night sweats!

According to an agency statement, the initiative led by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) is called Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health—also known by the acronym MsFLASH.

Collaborating NIH agencies include the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH).

“MsFLASH will speed the evaluation of treatments deemed promising by an independent panel at the recent NIH State-of-the-Science Conference on the Management of Menopause-Related Symptoms,” said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D.

Lead investigators Andrea Z. LaCroix, Ph.D., and Garnet Anderson, Ph.D.—both of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle—will coordinate the MsFLASH network.

Some possible treatment strategies under consideration during the five-year project include:

  • Slow deep breathing—also known as relaxation breathing
  • Yoga
  • Low-dose estradiol patch and low-dose estradiol gel
  • Exercise programs—both moderate and vigorous

“The collaborative, multidisciplinary, multicenter approach of MsFLASH will enable researchers to test other options—including behavioral and complementary and alternative medicine approaches—to determine whether they are also effective against hot flashes,” said Sherry Sherman, Ph.D., and NIA project scientist for the Menopause Strategies Network.

One safe alternative for achieving balanced hormones—without drugs or nasty side effects—is through all-natural progesterone cream. It can help balance excess estrogen in your body with essential progesterone.

This soothing solution can help ease symptoms of menopause—and put an end to mood swings… uncomfortable hot flashes and night sweats… and help you enjoy more restful nights!