WHEL-C-162 · Strong evidence · 8/10

venlafaxine for menopause

Venlafaxine is reported in a systematic review and review articles to effectively reduce the frequency and severity of menopausal vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes), with frequency reductions of approximately 40% to 65%.

Origin · FDA ApprovedPathway · 505(b)(2) · existing active ingredient, new indicationEvidence arm · Direct researchEvidence supports

How to read thisThe summary above and the proposed mechanism are generated by the model from the sources it ingested, and are written as the model’s reasoning rather than established fact. Any figure quoted from MATRIX is a model-derived association score, not a clinical measurement. How far the published record backs this pair is carried by the score’s own rigor dimension and traced to verbatim sources at the foot of the page.

Hypothesized mechanism

As an SNRI, venlafaxine may modulate serotonergic and noradrenergic pathways involved in central thermoregulation, reducing hot flash frequency and severity.

This is the model’s proposed mechanism from the sources on file, not a demonstrated causal pathway. How well the published record supports it is reflected in the rigor and plausibility dimensions of the score, and traced to the verbatim sources at the foot of the page.

How the score was reached, for this pair

The composite score is the sum of five dimensions, each scored 0 to 2 by the model from the evidence on file. Below is the sub-score this specific pair received on each, with what that dimension measures. It scored 8 of 10 overall, a strong reading, from a direct rated strong in strength.

The model’s overall reasoning for this pair is the summary at the top of the page, and the mechanism it proposed is in the section above.

Direct research arm · anchors the headline8.0 / 10 · Strong

Scored for women. Evidence generated in women (female population, ~100% female). (band F1, ×1.00).

Corroboration

Evidence comes from a systematic review (claim 1) and a narrative/review article (claims 2-3). A single systematic review counts as 1, and the additional review does not constitute independent replication; there is no large well-powered RCT cited.

1 / 2

Rigor

Claim 1 derives from a systematic review of SSRI/SNRI efficacy for vasomotor symptoms, which meets the meta-analysis/review threshold for a rigor score of 2. The other claims come from review articles synthesizing evidence.

2 / 2

Specificity

Venlafaxine is named directly and the condition (menopause/vasomotor symptoms, hot flashes) is explicitly stated across all three claims.

2 / 2

Plausibility

The claims describe SNRIs reducing vasomotor symptom frequency/severity, which is a plausible mechanism via serotonergic/noradrenergic thermoregulatory modulation, but no explicit mechanistic evidence is presented in the quotes.

1 / 2

Consistency

All three claims agree in direction, indicating venlafaxine reduces frequency and severity of vasomotor symptoms, with a quantified 40-65% reduction. The findings across the systematic review and review articles are consistent.

2 / 2

How the scoring rubric works, in general →

Layers not covered for this pair

Sex-specific pharmacokineticsNone on file

Not covered for this pair. This layer holds documented sex-specific pharmacokinetics for a limited set of drugs, and this compound is not among them yet. A blank here means the drug is not covered by the layer, not that no sex difference exists.

More on the sex-specific pharmacokinetics layer and its sources →

Cycle-phase dependenceNone on file

Not covered for this pair. The cycle-phase layer is seeded for the strongest-evidence cases so far (PMDD), and this pair is not among them yet. A blank here means the pair is not covered by the layer, not that the effect was found to be phase-independent.

More on the cycle-phase layer and its sources →

Source evidence · what the pipeline ingested

These are the sources the pipeline ingested to detect and score this signal, the published literature the model actually read, each tagged by study type. Where the model combined findings the claim is marked as a synthesis (S), and where the literature disagrees the contradiction is shown (!).

Every source below belongs to this signal’s evidence arm, Direct research. Whel reads each drug-condition pair through four such arms, each held to its own inclusion bar; a signal is surfaced through one of them.

1paroxetine, citalopram, escitalopram, venlafaxine, and desvenlafaxine are effective in reducing the frequency and severity of hot flashes PubMed · PMID 24944075 ↗
2citalopram, desvenlafaxine, escitalopram, gabapentin, paroxetine, and venlafaxine are available and are associated with a reduction in frequency of vasomotor symptoms by approximately 40% to 65% PubMed · PMID 36749328 ↗
3nonhormonal medications (such as paroxetine and venlafaxine) also can be effective PubMed · PMID 36749328 ↗

These are the verbatim sources the pipeline surfaced and read; they may not be the full published record for a pair, and the score reflects the strength and agreement of the evidence rather than its volume. The strength of these source types is what the rigor dimension of the score reads off. MATRIX, sex-specific pharmacokinetics, and cycle phase are separate layers the pipeline does not ingest, external cross-references reported beside the score, and they link to their own sources in their sections above.

The primary sources and pipelines this evidence is drawn from →

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