Big news in the menopause world: The Food and Drug Administration has just approved the drug elinzanetant as a non-hormonal treatment for hot flashes. The medication, which will be marketed under the name Lynkuet, is now the third non-hormonal drug to treat moderate to severe hot flashes in menopausal women.
There’s been a lot of attention on treatments for symptoms of menopause lately. In July, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, hosted a panel to discuss removing the black box warning on vaginal estrogen, which is used to treat vaginal dryness in menopause. Dr. Makary also vowed during that panel to “set the record straight” about hormone therapy in menopause.
But hormone therapy isn’t for everyone, and some people are nervous to try this type of treatment due to a flawed study—which has since been disproved—that linked hormone therapy with cancer (more on that in a sec). That’s opened the door for more forms of non-hormonal therapy for women in menopause, including Lynkuet.
So what is Lynkuet, and how does it stack up against other treatment options for symptoms of menopause? Here’s what ob-gyns who treat women in menopause want you to know.
What is Lynkuet?
Lynkeut is a once-daily pill that treats moderate to severe hot flashes in menopausal women. It’s made by Bayer, the same company that makes Aleve, Claritin, and a slew of other popular medications.
The way the medication works can get a little technical. On a macro level, it blocks the chemicals in your brain that cause hot flashes and night sweats, Lauren Streicher, MD, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, tells SELF.
As estrogen drops in the body during menopause, the nerves in your brain’s hypothalamus—which helps regulate your body temperature—start to produce a lot of chemicals called neurokinins, Dr. Streicher explains. Lynkeut specifically targets neurokinin 1 and neurokinin 3 receptors to help lower the odds that these neurokinins will dock on your cells, ultimately helping to reduce hot flashes.
Lynkeut comes with the risk of a few side effects, including:
- headache
- fatigue
- dizziness
- feeling drowsy or sleepy
- stomach pain
- rash
- diarrhea
- muscle spasms
Lynkuet is effective at reducing hot flashes.
Lynkuet has been through several clinical trials to get approval. Results from a phase 3 clinical trial published in September of 628 postmenopausal women found that those who took the medication for 12 weeks had a more than 73% reduction in their vasomotor symptoms, which include hot flashes.
