Menopause Hot Flashes Overview
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Menopause hot flashes or flushes are one of the most common symptoms of menopause. It affects more than fifty percent of women in the US.
The symptom of a hot flash is merely a sudden sensation of intense heat in the upper or whole body. The face and neck can become flush, or have red blotches. These blotches can also appear in the chest, back, and arms. What happens next is a sweating along with chills as the body begins to regulate itself. A hot flash can last anywhere from thirty seconds, to thirty minutes.
Hot flashes can appear sporadically and, often, years before menopause sets in. With age, these hot flashes will eventually decrease, and diminish altogether.
It is estimated that eighty percent of women suffer from menopause hot flashes for up to two years or less, but a small percentage of women can suffer for up to five years.
Unfortunately, hot flashes can happen at anytime during the day or night. They can be as mild as a blush, or so severe that it can wake you from even the deepest sleep.
Hot flashes have been linked to insomnia and some women find that caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, and even hot drinks can trigger a menopausal hot flash. Stress and traumatic events can even trigger a hot flash, but even avoiding such triggers your body going through menopause will still have the symptoms.
Hot flashes are a direct result in the decreased levels of estrogen in the body. As a result to the diminished estrogen level, your body then releases other hormones that affect the brain’s thermostat causing the body temperature to fluctuate.
Vitamin E has been known to help decrease hot flashes, as it causes the body to produce estrogen. HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) is also a great way to alleviate hot flashes.
Other suggestions in fighting the symptoms of menopause hot flashes are to dress in layers so that you can remove them during a flash. Drink a glass of cold water or juice on the onset of a flash. At night, keep a thermos of cold water next to your bed so that if awakened you can refresh yourself during the hot flash. Also, using pure cotton sheets and pajamas is a good way to allow your skin to breath.
Associated symptoms that follow hot flashes are headaches, insomnia, nausea, and difficulty concentrating,
Estrogen is the most commonly prescribed treatment of hot flashes, and is the third most commonly prescribed medication in America. Side effects to taking estrogen can be breast cancer, and irregular bleeding.
If there is a history of breast cancer in your family, and estrogen is not an option for you, there is a natural way to treat and relieve the symptoms of menopause hot flashes. It is a root called, Black Cohosh. It is also known as, Squaw Root, Black Snake Root, and Rattle Weed.
Black Cohosh is a North American forest plant that can grow up to eight feet tall. The part of the plant that is used is the rhizome, and has been used by the American Indians to treat various female illnesses giving it the name, Squaw Root.
Studied in Germany have shown that this root has substances that bind estrogen receptors in both animals and humans.
There are no reports of anything toxic in this root, but with any natural remedy it will take time to work in the body, and it is always important to speak with your physician to make sure that there are no interactions with other medications.
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