Oral micronized natural progesterone reduces hot flashes and night sweats during perimenopause. This treatment could interest 20% of women.
Oral micronized progesterone, a new Canadian study, decreases hot flashes and night sweats during perimenopause.
The results were presented during the 100th Endocrine Society annual meeting on March 19, 2018 in Chicago.
20% of women need treatment
“About 20% of women today need treatment for hot flashes and night sweats,” said Jerilynn C. Prior, lead author of the study. He also estimates that these inconveniences are manifested in 8 out of 10 women during the peri-menopause.
According to him there is currently no really effective treatment. Only hormone replacement treatments combining estrogen and progesterone or estrogen-progestogen pills are prescribed for the symptoms of hot flashes, without their effectiveness having been really proven scientifically.
The researchers studied in 189 randomized women taking micronized progesterone by mouth every night at bedtime based on 3 reasons: the effectiveness of progesterone on hot flashes and night sweats in peri-menopause, a decrease in progesterone levels at this period of life, increase in deep sleep by progesterone, without causing blood clots to form.
A clear clinical improvement
In practice, for 3 months, 93 women received 300 mg of micronized progesterone orally, and 96 received a placebo. Initially, 98% of women said they were woken up twice a week by night sweats. After 3 months, the perception of a decrease in the intensity of hot flashes and night sweats was better in women on treatment.
The result in itself was not statistically significant, but for the participants the clinical perception was of an important difference: their hot flashes were significantly less intense and their night sweats were reduced.
The researchers say no increases in serious or drug-related side effects have been reported.
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