How Hot Are You? If you’re a woman around the age of 50, chances are you’re darn hot! — at least every now and then. The reason is hot flashes, one of the most debilitating symptoms of menopause, and one the National Institute on Aging says is experienced by as many as 80 percent of American women. Hot flashes are most common during perimenopause and the first one to two years after menopause. For most women, hot flashes resolve in two to three years, but some women can expect to stay hot into their 60s, 70s and beyond.
There is no mistaking the sudden feeling of heat, flushing of skin, sweating, and at night, insomnia, associated with hot flashes and night sweats. Increased heart rate or palpitations may also accompany the “flash,” symptoms that are mistaken by some women as heart problems. Hot flash symptoms can last 30 seconds to five minutes, and it may take your body up to 30 minutes to fully normalize… sometimes just in time for the next flash to begin. What Happens  Researchers believe that hot flashes occur when the hypothalamus nerve cells in the brain, which help regulate body temperature, mistakenly sense you are too warm and attempt to cool you off. These nerve cells have estrogen receptors, so when estrogen levels decline, their temperature regulators don’t work as well as they used to and can result in hot flashes. Your body responds to what the brain says by increasing heart rate and blood flow to the extremities. Skin may become cool and clammy and a flush may develop on the face and chest. As skin temperature rises, you feel the heat and sweating may occur. When your body temperature drops from this cooling effect, blood vessels constrict and you may begin to feel cold and shiver. The hot flash happens in a matter of minutes, but it may take 30 minutes or more for your body temperature to normalize. If this occurs at night as "night sweats,’ it may disrupt sleep resulting in fatigue and irritability the next day.Although variable, hot flashes generally occur every 2-4 hours. Despite the increase in skin temperature, there is no change in core body temperature. Triggers are different for each woman. Stress and anxiety, spicy foods, caffeine, hot drinks, alcoholic beverages and hot room temperature may all play a part. But the most widely recognized remedy for relieving hot flashes is estrogen therapy. And the best way to know if estrogen will help and how much is needed to rebalance your hormones is a simple, convenient and cost effective saliva hormone test. Saliva samples can be collected in the privacy of your own home and the moderately priced test is affordable and can be easily repeated as hormone levels continue to change. |
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