Promising Treatment for Hot Flashes Reported in Journal of Palliative MedicineTuesday

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October 25, 8:02 am ET
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 2005--Hot flashes can dramatically affect a woman's quality of life as she goes through menopause caused by chemotherapy; but many women may get relief from hot flashes by taking a commonly prescribed antidepressant, citalopram (Celexa)--even when newer antidepressant medications cannot control symptoms, according to a report in the October issue (Volume 8, Number 5) of Journal of Palliative Medicine, a peer-reviewed publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and the official journal of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The paper is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/jpm.
Hot flash scores were reduced by more than half after four weeks among 30 women who took citalopram, report Charles Loprinzi, M.D., from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine (Rochester, MN), and colleagues in a paper entitled, "Pilot Evaluation of Citalopram for the Treatment of Hot Flashes in Women with Inadequate Benefit from Venlafaxine." The women who participated in the study had not received adequate relief of hot flash symptoms with venlafaxine (Effexor), a newer antidepressant medication commonly used to treat this disorder.
Ever since the adverse effects of hormone replacement therapy came to light, researchers have searched for an effective approach to alleviating hot flashes, which are a major problem for many menopausal women. Newer antidepressants--the serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, called SNRIs--such as venlafaxine, can substantially reduce hot flashes in many women, but some women will have only limited relief. The present study was designed to test whether classic antidepressants--the so-called SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors--could provide an effective alternative form of treatment.
"In addition to women going through menopause, these data will help us treat those women and men with cancer whose treatment gives them hot flashes," says Charles F. von Gunten, M.D., Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Palliative Medicine, and Director of the Center for Palliative Studies, San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care.
Journal of Palliative Medicine, published bimonthly in print and online, is an interdisciplinary journal that reports on the clinical, educational, legal, and ethical aspects of care for seriously ill and dying patients. It includes coverage of the latest developments in drug and non-drug treatments for patients with life-threatening diseases including cancer, AIDS, cardiac disease, pulmonary, neurologic, respiratory conditions, and other diseases. The Journal reports on the development of palliative care programs around the United States and the world, and on innovation in palliative care education.
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Women's Health, Disease Management, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, and The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available at www.liebertpub.com.