Wednesday Bubble: a poke and voila!

Posted by Liz on Dec 23, 2009 in hot flash | 2 comments

Researchers are suggesting that  a single injection of an anesthetic into the sympathetic nervous system may shut down hot flashes all together.

What?!

Is this a bubble to be burst or a solution to celebrate? Only time can tell.

True confession – much as I try, I cannot locate the original study. So I am going to share what I’ve learned through what I can find and you can draw your own conclusions!

Theoretically, the new strategy involves injecting a local anesthetic into the sympathetic nerves in the neck to block norepinephrine. (Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter that has been posited as a possible explanation for hot flashes, i.e. both norepinephrine and  serotonin lower the set point in how the body regulates temperature, meaning that heat loss mechanisms can be triggered by subtle changes in core body temperature.)

In this small study, which involved 15 women, all experienced decreases in the severity of their hot flashes by as much as 80%  for up to two weeks.

A larger study is evidently in the works to determine if this approach can help alleviate and possibly even eliminate hot flashes. Meanwhile, I am going to see if I can find more information. It’s an interesting strategy and one that could truly revolutionize the way that we address hot flashes if if proves to be true.