"New findings suggest that the antidepressant Lexapro might make hot flashes a little less of a nuisance to women  adding to the mixed bag of results regarding that drugs effect on menopause symptoms.  The study of  women found that those randomly assigned to take Lexapro escitalopram for eight weeks reported less daily interference from their hot flashes.  Compared with women given inactive placebo pills they said hot flashes were taking less of a toll on their work daily activities sleep and general mood. Women on the placebo also improved over time however.  The findings come from the same clinical trial that last year showed Lexapro halved the number of hot flashes women had each day. See Reuters story of January  .  A separate study a few months later showed no such benefit however. In two trials of  women researchers found that Lexapro did not cut the number or severity of hot flashes over eight weeks. See Reuters Health story of May  .  And the lead researcher on that study said these latest findings are nothing to write home about.  The differences between the treatment and placebo groups are very small said Robert Freedman a professor of psychiatry at Wayne State University in Detroit.  In general studies of hotflash remedies over the years have virtually always found a large placebo effect Freedman noted in an interview.  That could mean that study participants hot flashes are just getting better over time which they sometimes do.  But my feeling is that its the placebo effect Freedman said referring to the phenomenon of study participants on placebos improving because they believe they are getting a real treatment.  Hot flashes which mostly affect women transitioning to menopause and already in that phase of life involve a sudden sensation of heat sometimes accompanied by sweating or visible reddening of the skin.  Their exact cause is unknown but hormonal regulation of body temperature is thought to be involved.  Bouts of hot flashes can happen many times a day and past research has found they can continue for anywhere from a few months to up to  years.  So far Freedman noted the only hotflash treatment that has consistently worked in studies is hormone replacement therapy HRT.  And right now HRT is the only treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for cooling hot flashes.  But women and doctors are wary of HRT these days  since a  clinical trial linked the hormones to increased risks of heart attack stroke breast cancer and blood clots.  So researchers have been looking for alternatives. And studies have suggested that a few antidepressants used at low doses can be helpful for some women  including paroxetine Paxil fluoxetine Prozac and venlafaxine Effexor.  This latest study reported in the journal Fertility  Sterility focused on hot flash interference  the degree to which women feel hot flashes disrupt their lives.  Thats important because it gets at quality of life according to the researchers led by Janet S. Carpenter of Indiana University in Indianapolis.  The trial included  women who were having at least  bouts of hot flashes or night sweats a week. Carpenters team randomly assigned half to use Lexapro for eight weeks while the other half were given placebo pills.  The women kept diaries to record their hot flash symptoms. And every four weeks they filled out a questionnaire on hotflash interference.  After four weeks the study found women on the antidepressant saw their score on the interference scale fall by half on average. It remained there at week eight.  But women in the placebo group also improved albeit more slowly and to a somewhat lesser degree.  In a separate analysis of the same study group Carpenters team found that women on Lexapro also reported bigger improvements in sleep problems half saw their insomnia symptoms drop by at least  percent versus  percent of placebo users.  Those findings appear in a separate report in the journal Menopause.  Freedman said that the overall research on antidepressants and hot flashes is still inconsistent. Overall the picture is not optimistic.  In his own study last year Freedman used a different approach to measuring hot flashes instead of asking women to record their symptoms in a diary the researchers had them wear a detector to monitor objective measures of hot flashes.  I trust the objective measure more Freedman said.  It is possible for womens hot flashes to remain unchanged objectively but have their subjective experience of them change. But that raises the question of why Freedman said.  And for now he noted its also not clear why antidepressants would have effects on hot flashes.  Lexapro which costs about  a month belongs to the group of antidepressants called selective serotoninreuptake inhibitors SSRIs. They increase levels of the brain chemical serotonin which may have a role in regulating body heat.  But no one knows if altering serotonin levels actually does affect womens hot flashes. In fact Freedman said theres some evidence that lowering serotonin levels does not worsen hot flashes  which would be expected if the serotonin theory is correct.  Antidepressants can also have side effects like nausea drowsiness headache constipation and dry mouth.  Right now no antidepressant is specifically approved to treat hot flashes. But in the U.S. doctors are allowed to prescribe drugs offlabel for conditions other than their approved uses.  Besides antidepressants doctors sometimes prescribe certain blood pressure medications or the antiseizure drug gabapentin which some studies suggest may be helpful.  Hot flashes often need no drug treatment at all though.  If they are not severe experts say simple steps can be enough  like avoiding hot and spicy foods turning down the thermostat or trying relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation.  There are several herbal or natural products marketed for easing menopause symptoms including black cohosh soy red clover and dong quai. But there is little evidence that they work according to the North American Menopause Society.  SOURCE bit.lyJHwj httpbit.lyJHwj Fertility  Sterility online April   and Menopause online March  . Our StandardsThe Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. httpthomsonreuters.comenaboutustrustprinciples.html"