Researchers from the Centre for Reproductive Health and the University of Aberdeen have been awarded just under £2 million to lead a major clinical trial investigating a promising new treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding. The study could transform the lives of millions of women around the world who live with the debilitating condition.The three-and-a-half-year study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will investigate whether a new medicine taken as a pill every day could treat the condition more effectively than current medical treatments. Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) affects one in three women and can have a major impact on their lives. Over half of those who live with it are unable to carry out their usual daily activities and 43% have missed work due to their symptoms including bleeding and cramps. The condition is associated hormonal and clotting disorders, uterine problems such as fibroids and adenomyosis (when the lining of the uterus starts growing into the muscle in the wall of the womb), but the actual cause remains unknown in half of all women. Current treatment options for HMB, including tablets and the hormonal coil, are either ineffective in many women or come with side effects such as irregular bleeding. As a result, many women who use these treatments can end up resorting to surgery to remove the uterus, making future pregnancies impossible. Heavy menstrual bleeding is debilitating, too often normalised and is under recognised and under researched. This important study will raise awareness and offer a further treatment option to those suffering with HMB. Professor Hilary Critchley Professor of Reproductive Medicine The new medicine being tested in this trial, relugolix combination therapy (relugolix-CT), contains relugolix which temporarily stops the monthly menstrual cycle by producing a menopause-like state. Taken as a daily pill, it also contains hormone replacement therapy (HRT) which prevents any menopausal symptoms.Previous research on women with fibroids has shown relugolix–CT can substantially improve symptoms of HMB without some of the side-effects that come with other hormonal treatments. Women are also able to try for a pregnancy as soon as they stop taking the pill – an option that is impossible for women who have had a hysterectomy to cope with their HMB symptoms.This clinical trial will test whether relugolix-CT improves HMB in comparison with current medical treatment options. 270 participants will have an equal chance of being treated for 12 months with either relugolix-CT or one of the currently available medical treatments. Follow up questionnaires will be used to assess the effect of treatment on quality of life, menstrual symptoms and use of NHS services.The study is led jointly by Professor Hilary Critchley from the University of Edinburgh Centre for Reproductive Health and Professor Siladitya Bhattacharya from the University of Aberdeen. It will be carried out primarily by the University of Aberdeen, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, NHS Grampian, Barts Health NHS Trust, Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and The Lowdown – a research platform for women's health. The research team includes women who have lived experience of HMB. Heavy menstrual bleeding robs women of the chance to realise their full potential in life – the ability to prevent this could change lives. The limited success of currently prescribed drugs forces women to have to choose between coping with some of their symptoms in order to preserve their fertility and opting for surgery which takes away their chance of motherhood. For many of them, this trial could finally offer the chance of a medical treatment which is both effective and reversible. Professor Siladitya Bhattacharya Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Aberdeen Tags CRH This article was published on Tuesday 2 June 2026
