New treatment for menopausal hot flush

Inside Health

BBC

Health & Fitness, Science

4.4 • 575 Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A new non-hormonal drug has been approved to treat menopausal hot flushes. It works by regulating the body's cooling signals and is now available on the NHS in England for those who cannot use hormone replacement therapy.

Before delving into the evidence with resident GP Dr Margaret McCartney, James finds out what it feels like to have a hot flush.

Also this week, James chats to Dr Manjula Meda, a microbiologist who is spearheading a radical new project. She has found that water systems in hospitals may be a breeding ground for antimicrobial resistance, and is tackling this by removing the sinks from wards. Is it effective and safe?

Finally, we all do it, but we don't like discussing it... Farting. James speaks to the University of Maryland's Professor Brantley Hall, who has developed a 'fart detector' that can measure emissions to get a better understanding of gut health. And James gets the chance to attach one to his pants for three days. For science, of course.

Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Gerry Holt Content editor: Ilan Goodman Production coordinator: Stuart Laws Inside Health was made by the BBC’s Audio Science Unit in collaboration with The Open University.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:07.3	Their company's success helped build a nation.
0:10.9	The company is such a big part of Korea's economy.
0:13.5	But who are the family behind one of the world's tech giants?
0:17.2	They often say, look, we built the nation.
0:19.2	And without us, South Korea as it exists today,
0:22.6	would simply not be here. Inheritance, Samsung explores the real-life dramas of the Lee family
0:28.3	and their company. They are the equivalent of royalty. Listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:34.3	Hello there and welcome to the Inside Health podcast with me James Gallagher. Today we'll be
0:39.4	analysing my farts. Don't worry, we won't be silent or deadly on this important issue. And if you
0:46.1	can't tell, yes, it's the last episode in the series and we're going out with a bang, or maybe
0:51.0	just a gentle toot. We're also chatting to a hospital that's tackling superbugs by getting rid of sinks,
0:57.5	but first, menopausal hot flushes, because a new drug treatment has been approved for NHS use,
1:03.9	it works in the brain to reduce hot flushes, and it can be taken by women who can't use hormone
1:09.3	replacement therapy or HRT.
1:11.7	We'll talk to our resident GP, Dr Margaret McCartney, about it in a moment,
1:15.5	but first, I was invited to experience a hot flush.
1:20.1	I'm Leslie Salem. I'm founder of Over the Bloody Moon,
1:23.2	and we are here today because you're going to try the menovass,
1:26.1	which simulates menopausal hot flushes. So are you up for the challenge? I am up for the challenge. Okay, let's get this on. It's like a Geli. It is, isn't it? It's very thin. It's like a cycling jacket because we want it nice and close to your skin. So we'll just start here putting your arm in. There we go. So if you want to zip it up and we're going to, I'll just hold that in so it doesn't get caught all the way up to the neck. So super tight. All right. It's like a polo neck. Yeah. You're going to get nice zipped in. I'm just going to connect you now to the power mains and the programming device.
2:04.4	You're starting to go a bit red. Can you feel?
2:06.7	Oh, no, I can feel it in my neck now. I didn't realize she'd actually switched it all.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.