<p>Here’s some good news for ladies! Now, you can look forward to a happier menopause, thanks to a new hormone pill which eases hot flushes and peps up your sex life as well, say Italian scientists.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A team at the University of Pisa, which has produced the new pill, says its research showed for the first time that low doses of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a hormone created in the body, can improve women’s sexual satisfaction.<br /><br />It can also ease symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats, say the scientists.<br />For their research, the scientists carried out an experiment on 48 women suffering from menopausal symptoms. Of these, 12 took only vitamin D and calcium to improve their bone strength because they did not want HRT.<br /><br />The remaining 36 were split into a group of 12 taking DHEA, and two others given standard HRT containing oestrogen and progesterone, or the synthetic steroid tibolone, also known as Livial.<br /><br />The women’s menopausal symptoms and sexual interest and activity were then measured using standard questionnaires.<br /><br />After 12 months, all women receiving hormone-replacement supplements showed improvements in menopausal symptoms, while those taking vitamin D and calcium didn’t show any significant improvement, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported. <br /><br />At the start of the trial, all groups had similar levels of sexual activity. After a year, women taking calcium and vitamin D had a McCoy score — measuring aspects of sexuality likely to be affected by changing sex-hormone levels — of 34.9, while those using DHEA reached 48.6.<br /><br />The higher score indicates that women on DHEA had a statistically significant elevation in sexual interest and activity. The results for women using HRT were similar.<br />Sexual activity was also higher with tibolone, but this was not statistically significant, according to the findings published in the ‘Climacteric’ journal.<br /><br />Team leader Prof Andrea Genazzani said: “This is a small study, a proof of concept. What we need to do now is to look at a larger study to confirm these initial results are valid.”<br />Experts, however, have called for more tests to determine whether it could eventually become an alternative to Hormone Replacement Therapy for menopausal problems.<br /><br />Dr John Stevenson, consultant metabolic physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London and chairman of the charity Women’s Health Concern, said: “These are interesting findings and we now need a bigger study.”</p>
<p>Here’s some good news for ladies! Now, you can look forward to a happier menopause, thanks to a new hormone pill which eases hot flushes and peps up your sex life as well, say Italian scientists.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A team at the University of Pisa, which has produced the new pill, says its research showed for the first time that low doses of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a hormone created in the body, can improve women’s sexual satisfaction.<br /><br />It can also ease symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats, say the scientists.<br />For their research, the scientists carried out an experiment on 48 women suffering from menopausal symptoms. Of these, 12 took only vitamin D and calcium to improve their bone strength because they did not want HRT.<br /><br />The remaining 36 were split into a group of 12 taking DHEA, and two others given standard HRT containing oestrogen and progesterone, or the synthetic steroid tibolone, also known as Livial.<br /><br />The women’s menopausal symptoms and sexual interest and activity were then measured using standard questionnaires.<br /><br />After 12 months, all women receiving hormone-replacement supplements showed improvements in menopausal symptoms, while those taking vitamin D and calcium didn’t show any significant improvement, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported. <br /><br />At the start of the trial, all groups had similar levels of sexual activity. After a year, women taking calcium and vitamin D had a McCoy score — measuring aspects of sexuality likely to be affected by changing sex-hormone levels — of 34.9, while those using DHEA reached 48.6.<br /><br />The higher score indicates that women on DHEA had a statistically significant elevation in sexual interest and activity. The results for women using HRT were similar.<br />Sexual activity was also higher with tibolone, but this was not statistically significant, according to the findings published in the ‘Climacteric’ journal.<br /><br />Team leader Prof Andrea Genazzani said: “This is a small study, a proof of concept. What we need to do now is to look at a larger study to confirm these initial results are valid.”<br />Experts, however, have called for more tests to determine whether it could eventually become an alternative to Hormone Replacement Therapy for menopausal problems.<br /><br />Dr John Stevenson, consultant metabolic physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London and chairman of the charity Women’s Health Concern, said: “These are interesting findings and we now need a bigger study.”</p>
