Hot flushes – the inconvenient, irritating reality of menopause and what to do about it
The cause of flushes is unknown, but remedies are available. In other news, researchers find link between Chinese herbal remedies and liver cancer, and dyslexia may be related to hidden tiny light receptor cells in the eye
The possible causes and cures for hot flushes
They strike at the most inopportune times: during meetings, dinner, in bed. The face flushes, the heart races. Fingers tingle and perspiration washes over the body. They’re hot flushes, and for more than 70 per cent of women, they’re an inconvenient and sometimes unpleasant reality of menopause.
What’s the cause? Carolyn Crandall, a professor of medicine at University of California at Los Angeles’ David Geffen School of Medicine, has bad news: “We don’t know the answer.”
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The symptoms seem to begin in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that helps regulate body temperature. Hormonal changes may cause the hypothalamus to tell the body it’s really hot. As a result, it responds by sweating and dilating blood vessels – reactions that usually occur when the body is actually hot.
But it’s not really clear what triggers this process, how to stop it, or even whether a lack of oestrogen, the female sex hormone that is produced in smaller quantities in middle age, is its cause.
Women with a history of smoking, conditions such as depression and anxiety, and high body mass indexes appear to be at higher risk, according to research. There’s no telling how long any particular woman will experience hot flushes; on average, they last seven years – even longer for African American women – and they may persist for a lifetime. Recent studies show Chinese women are less likely to experience them.
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Traditional hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, and bioidentical hormone therapy, which mimics hormones produced by ovaries using plant or animal derivatives, are options for relief.