The intention is that this trial will contribute to the evidence base regarding effective treatment for hot flushes.

Data from six prospective analyzed studies indicate at least 3-month effects after the end of acupuncture treatment for flashes in women with breast cancer and men with prostate cancer. However, larger randomized trials with long-term follow-up will be needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

Objective: Menopausal symptoms with hot flashes and night sweat may persist for 10 to 20 years or even longer. There is limited information about to what extent older women use Hormone Therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the use of HT in Swedish women 80 years of age or older. Methods:The study is based on national register data on dispensed drug prescriptions (i.e. prescribed therapy that has been provided to the patient at the pharmacy) for Hormone Therapy and local low dose estrogens. Conclusions:Our results show that a number of women at or above 80 years of age still use Hormone Therapy and most women who started a new treatment period had only one or two dispensations, but the median duration of treatment was more than half a year. Since at least some of the women 80 years of age and older who used Hormone Therapy probably did so due to persisting climacteric symptoms vasomotor symptoms and Hormone Therapy are still relevant issues to be discussed when counselling women around and after 80 years of age.

Symptoms of testosterone deficiency and concentrations of testosterone (T) and bioavailable testosterone (BT) were studied in 35-and 45-year-old men. Methods: A questionnaire, was sent to all 35-and 45-year-old men in Linkoping, Sweden (n = 1998). The questionnaire has earlier been used for 55- to 75-year-old men and included demographic data, medical history, different symptoms possibly of T deficiency and the 10 questions from the "ADAM-questionnaire". Totally 200 men randomly selected among the men who answered the questionnaire were asked to give blood samples for analysis of T-and BT-concentrations. Results: A total of 38.7% of the questionnaires were returned and analysed, and 43.5% of the 200 randomly selected men gave blood samples. The older age group reported more symptoms that may be connected to low B and BT and had lower T-and BT-concentrations. Less strong erections and higher alcohol consumption were associated with lower concentrations of BT in 45-year-old men. Conclusions: The burden of symptoms possibly related to low T concentrations were higher in 45-year-old men, and BT and T were lower. However, due to the low answer frequency and number of blood samples analyzed no general conclusions can be drawn

Hot flushes are common and troublesome symptoms of menopause. The neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is increased in plasma during hot flushes but it has not been clear if CGRP is causally involved in the mechanism underpinning the flushes. Here, we examined the effect of interventions with CGRP in a mouse model of hot flushes based on flush-like temperature increases triggered by forced physical activity in ovariectomized mice. Compared to normal mice, ovariectomized mice reacted with an exaggerated, flush-like, temperature increase after physical exercise. This increase was completely blocked by the non-peptide CGRP-antagonist MK-8825 (-0.41 degrees Celsius, 95% CI: -0,83 to 0,012, p < 0.0001) at a dose that had no obvious effects on locomotor activity (50 mg/kg). Further, the flush-like temperature increases were strongly attenuated in ovariectomized mice lacking αCGRP due to a genetic modification. Collectively, our findings suggest that CGRP is an important mediator of experimentally induced hot flushes and they identify CGRP antagonists as promising treatment candidates for women and possibly also men with hot flushes.