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Menopause: Anatomy of a Hot Flash.(Cover story)
Byline: Carolyn R. Schatz and Celeste Robb-Nicholson, M.D. (Schatz and Robb-Nicholson are the editor and editor in chief of the Harvard Women's Health Watch. For more info on hot flashes, go to health.harvard.edu/NEWSWEEK.)
Hot flashes are no joke when they leave you soaked in sweat and feeling dazed. Technically, hot flashes exaggerate how the body normally cools down: blood vessels dilate, letting more blood reach the skin to release heat. They tend to come on rapidly and last from one to five minutes. They range in severity from a fleeting sense of warmth to a feeling of being on fire. Some women have just a few during a week; others get them day and night.
For American women, vasomotor symptoms are common around menopause, but the experience isn't universal: fewer Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian women report having hot flashes. Scientists say such differences may reflect cultural variations in lifestyle, semantics and attitudes. Genetics could be involved. Smoking and obesity increase the likelihood of hot flashes, for unknown reasons.
Researchers have studied the physiology of hot flashes for more than 30 years but still don't know exactly how or why they occur. Scientist Robert R. Freedman and his colleagues at Detroit's Wayne State University School of Medicine have measured skin temperature, blood flow, heart rate and sweating in menopausal women before, during and after hot flashes. They've found that women who experience hot flashes have a much lower tolerance for small increases in the body's ...
- Why Some Women Get Hot Flashes and Others Don't, from Harvard Women's Health...
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...t have hot flashes. Normally...comfortable "thermoneutral zone." When...who have hot flashes have a thermoneutral zone that's...discusses why the thermoneutral zone is narrower in women with hot flashes and strategies...
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- Magazine article from: Newsweek Wingert, Pat Kantrowitz, Barbara January 15, 2007 700+ words
...Freedman's theory is that women who get hot flashes have a very narrow "thermoneutral zone"--the temperature at which the body is...we may soon understand not only what causes hot flashes but also how to prevent them.
- Depomed Reports Results From Two Phase 3 Clinical Trials Evaluating...
- Press release article from: Business Wire October 12, 2009 700+ words
...with the severity of hot flashes. According to the...Menopause Society, hot flashes are the most common...Research suggests hot flashes occur when the body...narrowing the body's thermoneutral zone. Thus, even small...
- Managing menopause: how to curb hot flashes, bone loss, and other symptoms.
- Newspaper article from: Nutrition Action Healthletter Schardt, David July 1, 2004 700+ words
...that women suffer from hot flashes for one to five years...research suggests that hot flashes are triggered when...what we call their thermoneutral zone, is greatly reduced...animal model to study hot flashes in menopause that occurs...
- Menopause: Anatomy of a Hot Flash.
- Magazine article from: Newsweek April 24, 2006 700+ words
...some women the thermoneutral zone is exceptionally...will give them hot flashes. What narrows the thermoneutral zone? One possibility...women who have hot flashes than in those...norepinephrine narrows the thermoneutral zone. Conversely...
- Hot flashes--a review of the literature on alternative and complementary...
- Magazine article from: Alternative Medicine Review Philp, Hazel A. August 1, 2003 700+ words
Abstract Hot flashes are a common experience for menopausal...therapies show promise in treating hot flashes without the risks associated with...have been shown effective in treating hot flashes in menopausal women. Introduction...
- Hot flashes and your heart: a serious warning sign? Study shows link between...
- Magazine article from: Women's Health Advisor August 1, 2007 700+ words
Many women choose to live with hot flashes rather than treat them with medication...April issue of Menopause, women with hot flashes have higher blood pressure, a major...factor for cardiovascular disease. Are hot flashes really something to leave untreated...
- Hot flashes aren't just for menopausal women these days.
- Newspaper article from: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN) May 7, 2004 700+ words
Byline: Kay Harvey Hot flashes are no big secret anymore. A better-kept secret is...some older women at church when they discovered they had hot flashes in common. Hot flashes no longer discriminate because of age or gender. New...
