Hotflashes affect more than 75% of menopausal women. So what are they ? During the menopause your body produces less estrogen and it is the fluctuation in these levels that is blamed for your hot flashes. Due to the fluctuating levels your brain becomes confused and is unable to regulate your body’s temperature properly. The precise mechanism behind this is still not fully understood.
Around What Age Do Hot Flashes Start ?
Hot flashes can often be the first sign that your menopause is about to start. The average age for their onset is 47, although it is not unusual for the perimenopause to start in the late 30′s. It is during this pre-menopause period (the perimenopause) that the physical symptoms of the menopause will begin.
The symptoms of menopause, and their severity, vary from one woman to the next. They can include hot flashes, irregular periods, vaginal dryness, and heart palpitations.
Things that trigger hot flushes
There are a number of things that can trigger your hot flushes. You should look out for the ones that affect you and avoid those triggers if you possible can. These can include :
- Caffeine or other hot drinks
- Alcohol
- Stress, worry, anxiety
- Spicy food
- Hot environments.
If you are a smoker then you are also likely to experience hot flashes earlier in your life than those that don’t smoke. One more good reason to give up !
How Long Do Hot Flashes Last?
A hot flash episode will typically be around 5 minutes. Although they could also be as short as around 30 seconds or as long as 30 minutes, or even an hour. They can occur several times a day, sometimes they can feel like they are lasting all day. There is no set pattern. Your hot flash episodes may only occur once or twice, but you could also experience them for up to 10 years.
What Happens During Hot Flashes
During a hot flush episode your body struggles to stabilise itself. Your heart rate will increase, and with it your blood flow. Your blood vessels in the skin around the head an neck will dilate to handle the increased blood flow which is what gives the flushed, red appearance. Other symptoms can include an increased sensation of heat, sweating, and feeling of anxiety. This can be aggravated by the feeling of social embarrasment. Your hot flush can spread to the chest and other parts of the upper body. You can experience hot flashes at any time of the day or night. Hot flashes can disturb your sleep as you wake from a ‘night sweat’. The resulting lost sleep can leave you feeling irritable, tired, and anxious.
Why Do Women In Certain Parts of The World NOT Suffer From Hot Flashes ?
In non-western cultures, such as Japan, Pakistan, Mexico etc. it is believed that less than 10% of women experience hot flashes.
The Japanese have no equivalent words for ‘hot flashes’ or ‘hot flushes’. Japanese women simply do not suffer anything like the severity of hot flashes compared to women in
the west. So what is the reason for this ? It is believed that culture and attitude play a part, but the biggest influence is believed to be dietary. Soy is one of the major sources of protien in Japan and it is high in phytoestrogen, which is like a much milder, safer, and natural form of the hormones found in HRT (hormone replacement therapy). Soy will not stop severe cases of hot flushes, even in Japan, but it does help reduce the problems caused by the less severe episodes. But these women also have other dietary supplements that have been around in their culture for hundreds of years. Supplements that the west has only recently started to wake up to.
What about HRT ?
Hormone replacement therapy, while effective in some women, has raised a number of questions regarding it’s effectiveness, and in particular it’s safety. It has been suggested that it can be responsible for doubling your risk of Alzheimers disease, heart attacks, strokes, and breast cancer. It may be effective, but at what price ? Do you think the risks are worth taking when there are safe, natural, alternatives ?
So What Are The Alternatives ?
If you either cannot take HRT, or do not want to take it because of the numerous health scares surrounding it that keep surfacing, then what are your options ? Well, luckily nature has provided us with some excellent remedies for dealing with hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. These are not something that some drug company has knocked up in a laboratory, and then continue to make huge profits from while an unsuspecting public gradually discover one major health risk after another. They aren’t something that has only been on the market for a few years. These are proven, natural, herbs and roots that have been used by women for hundreds of years and handed down through the generations. Why have they been used by so many women for so long ? Because they work ! If they didn’t make a difference, women would not have been using them for so long, and would not have been recommending them to their friends and daughters.
How To Beat Hot Flashes – The Natural Way
Black Cohosh
a variety of ailments. Most notably, menstrual problems, hot flushes, inducing lactation, and problems with the reproductive organs.
Proven safe and effective
In Germany black cohosh has been in widespread use for over 40 years. It has been the subject of rigorous tests by Germany’s equivalent of the FDA which have demonstrated it to be both safe and effective. In 40 years of use worldwide there have been no recorded instances of black cohosh interfering with other drugs that were being taken. In the very few cases of reported side effects these have been limited to mild stomach upset.
So What Should YOU Do ?
From all the research that has been carried out into hot flashes it is clear that there are a number of lifestyle changes that can help you :
- Wear natural, cotton clothing, in layers that can easily be removed or replaced when needed.
- Exercise ! Combined with a balanced diet it has been shown to help reduce hot flashes.
- Relax – The hot flash will pass easier if you are not getting stressed and embarrassed by it.
- Watch out for spicy foods. They can trigger a body temperature increase. Something you don’t need !
- Keep alcohol and coffee to a minimum. They can also act as a trigger for hot flashes.
- Take a safe & natural black cohosh based herbal supplement with a proven track record of success, such as Menozac
