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Cool off: learn how to relieve hot flashes naturally.(ASK THE DOC)(Research Study On Menopause)(hormone Replacement Therapy)
I am a 64-year-old woman suffering from hot flashes and night sweats. What can I do to treat these menopausal symptoms naturally? Pat, via e-mail
Each woman experiences menopause different]y; therefore, treatment is also individualized. All that I can do in this column is present options for you.
Hot flashes occur in many, but not all, women undergoing menopause. A feeling of warmth that originates internally and flushes over the skin, sometimes accompanied by perspiration, is a hot flash. They can be experienced by menstruating women in their 40s and can last a decade or more in some. While hot flashes are not quite understood fully, they are thought to occur because the body's estrogen levels are decreasing or fluctuating.
While hormone replacement therapy (HRT) works well for many women because it elevates estrogen levels in the body, the risks of heart disease and breast cancer uncovered a few years ago by the Woman's Health Initiative study has made HRT a last resort for most women. (Go to http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/ for more information.) This has prompted many women to search for other options.
Bio-identical hormones (or BHRT) are derived from yam and/or soy. Once extracted from these natural sources, the hormones are refined to mimic the human hormone molecule. These are more easily tolerated because the body has enzymes that break down and metabolize the hormones. BHRT is only available through your health care professional. Tests that he or she will need to do include blood or saliva tests that measure total estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA-S and sex hormone binding globulin.
Control stress. Recently, University of Pennsylvania researchers concluded that controlling stress and anxiety might help reduce the number and severity of hot flashes.
Reporting in the May/June 2005 issue of Menopause, the researchers measured the anxiety levels in 400 menstruating women. Six years later, many of the women were experiencing hot flashes and irregular periods (both signs of menopause approaching). Researchers measured the women's anxiety ...
- 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
...often as hourly. (13) Hot flashes can begin prior to the...nearly 60 percent of women reporting them before...over time, with some women experiencing hot flashes less frequently and...often awakening a woman from sleep) or during...
- 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
...issue of Menopause, women with hot flashes have higher blood pressure...researchers found that women who reported having hot flashes had "significantly...connection between hot flashes and hypertension. "Some women develop hypertension...
- 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
...experience hot flashes, too. And hot flashes occur naturally for younger women who undergo hysterectomies. Some women complain of hot flashes during pregnancy and breastfeeding...somehow turns into an effect women call hot flashes," he says. "I feel ...
- Hot flashes aren't just for menopausal women these days.(Knight Ridder...
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Harvey, Kay May 7, 2004 700+ words
...experience hot flashes, too. And hot flashes occur naturally for younger women who undergo hysterectomies. Some women complain of hot flashes during pregnancy and breastfeeding...somehow turns into an effect women call hot flashes," he says. "I feel ...
- Men get hot flashes too, but relief is available: this side effect of hormone...
- Magazine article from: Men's Health Advisor October 1, 2008 700+ words
...Clinic's Department of Solid Tumor Oncology. If hot flashes are problematic, chances are you can find relief...that you talk to your physician. WHY MEN GET HOT FLASHES Women experience hot flashes during menopause, when their estrogen levels...
- Cooling down hot flashes.
- Newspaper article from: Women's Health Letter Fuchs, Nan Kathryn August 1, 2001 700+ words
...percent of menopausal women in this country have hot flashes, some for as long...miracle for many women to eliminate hot flashes and night sweats...vitamin C found that hot flashes were eliminated in 53 percent of women participants and...
- Antidepressant Found to Reduce Hot Flashes; Menopausal Women Battling Hot...
- News wire article from: Ascribe Higher Education News Service June 3, 2003 700+ words
...Association. Hot flashes traditionally...results of the Women's Health Initiative...cancer - have sent women and their physicians...Center. "If a woman wants to try...reduction in hot flashes. The physiology...observation that women with a history...
- 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...I have seen several women in their 70s who were...research suggests that hot flashes are triggered when a woman's core body temperature...But in menopausal women, we think their tolerance...
