Women taking any form of oestrogen replacement or other drugs for menopausal symptoms were excluded from the study, as were those requiring concurrent treatment with systemic steroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, anti-convulsants, clonidine, and phenothiazides. The sample size was chosen to give a 90% chance of detecting a 13% change in the mean number of daytime flushes when testing at the 5% level of significance.