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Dr. Kim Mulvihill ReportingWomen who suffer from severe hot flashes during menopause have few options that offer good relief. Without a doubt, estrogen is very good at treating hot flashes, but because of potentially adverse side effects, many women are unwilling or unable to use them.
That's why bay area researchers are testing a new alternative.
"After, when the whole thing flushes over, you feel like a wet noodle."
Violetta's hot flashes and night sweats are so bad, she's exhausted.
Violetta Reiser, Patient: "At night, every few hours you wake up and you're hot and you try to find a cold spot on the bed, cool off and then go back to sleep."
But Violetta is not interested in estrogen, in part because hormone therapy may cause serious side effects.
Violetta: "It was in the news that it's actually not good for you, that it might cause cancer."
So Violetta is trying an experimental therapy, a beverage that's a mixture of twenty-two Chinese herbs.
George Sawaya, M.D., UCSF Medical Center: "We are enrolling women at trial to see if they are interested in contributing to science, and in terms of figuring out the safety and efficacy of these herbs."
Dr. George Sawaya of UCSF says a preliminary study found the treatment decreases hot flashes by thirty percent. A larger trial now underway pits the herbal mixture against a placebo. No one, not even the doctors, will know who gets the real thing.
Researchers want to find new treatments, but they first need to get to the root of the problem.
Deborah Grady, M.D., UCSF Medical Center: "In my view it's a little bit astonishing that we don't have a better understanding of what causes hot flashes."
Estrogen is thought to play a key role; levels drop during menopause. But Dr. Deborah Grady of UCSF says that can't be the entire explanation. Many women who have low levels of estrogen in their systems don't have hot flashes. And, if low levels of estrogen caused them, why don't young girls have hot flashes before they begin menstruation? So something else must be involved.
Dr. Deborah Grady: "If we understood that better, we could probably design much better treatments."
This study is being conducted by five centers across the country.
