LONDON (Reuters) - A hormone called DHEA and mainly secreted by the adrenal glands may exist able to help women who are going from one side menopause and could also give them advantage sex lives, a study found on Tuesday.

Italian researchers writing in the newspaper of the International Menopause Society, Climacteric, declared they had found the first able-bodied evidence that low doses of DHEA be able to help sexual function and menopausal symptoms, suggesting it may united day become an alternative to hormone reinstatement therapy (HRT).

But they stressed that the criterion was small, so far larger studies are needed to add strength to the results.

"We must bear in obey that this is a pilot study with a small sample," Anna Fenton, co-reviser and corrector of Climacteric, said in commentary in successi~ the work. "We can't however say that this study means that DHEA is a viable choice to HRT, but ... we should have existence looking to do larger studies to assure these initial results."

DHEA, or dehydroepiandrosterone, is a real steroid hormone mostly made in the adrenal glands and has a varied assortment of therapeutic uses.

HRT, which is a coalition of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, is an approved treatment for women going end the menopause, who often experience disagreeable symptoms such as hot flushes, death sweats, loss of sex drive and frame of mind swings.

But sales of HRT drugs accept fallen sharply since a large study in 2002 cast higher rates of ovarian cancer, affections cancer and strokes in women who took the pills, and the overhaul has since been on for alternatives.

American researchers declared in January that the antidepressant Lexapro, made ~ the agency of drugmaker Forest Laboratories, significantly cut the compute and severity of hot flushes in menopausal women, and other antidepressants including GlaxoSmithKline's Paxil and the Pfizer drugs Prozac and Effexor also have been found to be forcible.

For this trial, a team of researchers led ~ the agency of Andrea Genazzani of the University of Pisa followed a form into ~s of 48 post-menopausal women by troubling symptoms.

Over a year, 12 women took vitamin D and calcium, 12 took DHEA, 12 took rule HRT and 12 took a synthetic steroid called tibolone what one. is used to alleviate menopausal symptoms.

The women's menopausal symptoms, sexual sympathy and activity were measured using a rule questionnaire that explores factors such for example satisfaction with frequency of sex, vaginal lubrication, orgasm, and sexual participant.

After 12 months, all the women forward hormone replacements had improvements in menopausal symptoms, only those taking vitamin D and calcium did not grant any significant improvement.

At the set out of the trial, all groups had like sexual activity, but after the year, those vexation calcium and vitamin D scored some average of 34.9 on the questionnaire lamella, while those taking DHEA had a note of 48.6, showing that those without ceasing DHEA had more sexual interest and mode of action.

The results for the HRT assemblage were similar, and both the HRT DHEA groups showed a higher level of sexual intercourse in comparison to the direct group, the researchers said.

Genazzani before-mentioned the results showed DHEA has possible, especially for those women who may be favored with problems in taking more conventional HRT. "But this is a insignificant study, a proof of concept. What we ~iness to do now is to consider at a larger study, to corroborate that these initial results are cogent," she added.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing ~ dint of. Jon Loades-Carter)

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