Management of the Vasomotor Symptoms of Menopause: Twofers in Your Clinical Toolbox

The number of midlife women transitioning into menopause is substantial, with more than 1 million women in the United States entering menopause each year. Vasomotor symptoms (VMS), mood and sleep disturbances, and sexual problems are common during the menopause transition yet often go untreated. Menopausal hormone therapy is the most effective treatment of VMS, and the bene fi ts typically outweigh the risks for women without contraindications who are younger than 60 years or within 10 years from menopause onset. For women who cannot or choose not to use hormone therapy, nonhormone prescription options exist to treat VMS. Many of these therapies have secondary bene fi ts beyond VMS relief. For example, whereas paroxetine is Food and Drug Administration approved to treat VMS, it can also help with depressive and anxiety symptoms. The aim of this paper is to summarize prescription treatments of VMS and their secondary bene fi ts for other common symptoms experienced by midlife women. The tools presented will help clinicians caring for midlife women provide individualized, comprehensive care with the goal of improving their quality of life during the menopause transition and beyond. <feminine ordinal indicator> 2024 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. center dot Mayo Clin Proc. 2024 ; 99(7):1142-1148