Patients included for study were menopausal women who had not flushes at least three times a day and who had raised gonadotrophin (follicle stimulating hormone and luteinising hormone) concentrations or had had amenorrhoea for at least six months, or both. None of these women had received oestrogen replacement therapy or essential fatty acid supplements in the previous two months. 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.