Hanna Webster | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Food and Drug Administration last Friday approved fezolinetant, or Veozah, to treat hot flashes for women in menopause. The non-hormonal drug treatment is the first of its class and represents an option for women who cannot take hormones.
Menopause occurs when women do not get a period for 12 consecutive months, usually beginning between ages 45 and 55. Hot flashes are the most common menopausal symptom and can interfere with quality of life. Of those in menopause, more than 80% of them suffer from hot flashes.
More women are entering menopause as well, as people are living longer and the substantial Gen X generation ages into menopause.
“It’s great that this is going to market,” said Dr. Beth Prairie, an OBGYN and preventive medicine physician at Allegheny Health Network Midlife Women’s Associates and the chief medical officer of West Penn Hospital. Dr. Prairie has specialized in menopausal medicine for more than 15 years and said the approval of Veozah will open up a whole new possibility for patients who cannot benefit from hormone therapy.
Veozah, from Japan-based Astellas Pharma, is part of a class of medications called NK3 antagonists — NK3 is a kind of receptor that controls brain cells called KNDy neurons. When women age and estrogen levels plummet, NK3 goes into overdrive, said Dr. Katherine Scruggs, an OBGYN at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Women’s Health. The body thinks it’s hotter than it is, so it responds accordingly, leading to hot flashes.
Veozah can stop this pathway by blocking receptors in the brain’s hypothalamus, a region that keeps body temperature in check.
Research has shown that the hypothalamus is implicated in hot flashes. KNDy neurons, which live in the hypothalamus, act like switches for hot flashes. When a patient takes a Veozah pill, it blocks KNDy neurons from firing, thus stopping hot flashes.
During a hot flash, in addition to a sudden feeling of…
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