Low-dose estrogen therapy reduced the prevalence of hot flashes from 44% to 4.2% and night sweats from 35% to 4.7% in postmenopausal women. (2016)
From the article:
KEEPS was a multicenter clinical trial designed to compare effects of low-dose oral conjugated estrogens (CEE) with those of transdermal estradiol versus placebo on cardiovascular endpoints in recently postmenopausal women. Seven hundred twenty-seven women aged 42 to 58 years and within 3 years of their final menstrual period were randomized to receive oral conjugated estrogens (CEE) 0.45 mg (n = 230) or transdermal estradiol 50 μg (n = 225), both with micronized progesterone 200 mg for 12 days each month, or placebo (n = 275).
All participants completed a menopause symptom checklist before randomization and again at 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 months. Menopause symptoms were self-assessed and included only current symptoms of hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, and irritability. Because of study dropout from screening to 48 months, 173, 170, and 211 women randomized to CEE, transdermal estradiol, and placebo, respectively, completed the end-of-study assessments.
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At baseline screening, moderate to severe hot flashes were reported by 44% of participants. By 6 months, moderate to severe hot flashes had decreased to 28.3% for those women randomized to placebo, 7.4% for those randomized to transdermal estradiol, and 4.2% for those randomized to CEE [oral conjugated estrogens]. Moderate to severe night sweats reported by 35% of participants at baseline decreased to 19% for placebo, 5.3% for transdermal estradiol, and 4.7% for CEE at 6 months. This initial magnitude of symptom reduction was maintained throughout the entire study in all treatment groups.
Insomnia and irritability decreased from baseline to 6 months after randomization in all groups. There was an intermittent reduction in insomnia in both active treatment arms versus placebo, with CEE being more effective than placebo at 36 and 48 months and transdermal estradiol being more effective than placebo at 48 months. Neither hormone treatment significantly affected irritability compared with placebo.