hot flash

Wednesday Bubble: Cool is the new black

Posted by Liz on May 9, 2012 in hot flash, nightsweats | 0 comments

What are the odds that I would run across yet another cooling product? Seriously, it’s like a flash went off in someone’s brain that every menopausal woman in the United States needed to solve her issues through cooling. Mind you, I do believe that thermoregulation is an interesting strategy to combat the body’s out of whack thermometer. But when does the menopausosphere  reach its saturation point?

Evidently, not yet.

This week, I bring you the Polar Pillow, guaranteed to “calm, cool and soothe you into the best sleep of your life” (as well as soothe hot flashes and night sweats).

This nifty 12+ pound pillow contains cooling gel infused with micro air beads and according to the manufacturer, works on its own by absorbing coolness from the air and then releasing it upon contact. The ‘science’ behind the Polar Pillow is an abstract presented at the Associated Professional Sleep Society 2011 meeting. In this study, researchers asked 12 people with insomnia to wear a cap that contained circulating water at cooling and varied temperatures. With the cap on, study participants with sleep issues took an average of 13 minutes to fall asleep (compared to 16 minutes for the healthy comparators) and they slept for about 89% of the time that they were in bed. Theoretically, the benefits are related to the fact that the brain (namely the frontal lobe) remains too hot to sleep and by cooling it down, one can turn down processes that keep the brain active and alert.

So, where do the night sweats and flashes come in?

They don’t.

At least not in the small pilot research that was conducted thus far.

However, rather than asking you to take my cynical word on the Polar Pillow, I decided to ask my friend Richard Laermer (who I inadvertently learned has used the pillow) to weigh in. And while Richard told me that he likes it because he’s a “hot” sleeper and it does cool him, he said that “it’s ugly and it seems to smell sometimes,” adding that it’s not him since he’s “fairly clean!” But here’s the rub:

” There are really really rough pointy edges that almost blinded my partner,” said Richard. “Go figure. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t recommend it…we can do better for a hundred bucks.” (Richard received it as a gift.)

So, let’s see:

• It’s ugly
• It smells
• It has really rough pointy edges making its utility in bed dangerous for one’s partner

And while it may cool the average hot sleeper, it has not actually been shown to help menopausal women. (Clearly, Richard is neither a women or menopausal.) And, despite being the target  hot sleeper, Richard still wouldn’t recommend the Polar Pillow.

My take away?

Thermal is in. Cool is the new black. Enough said.

Your Weather Forecasting is Spot On! Guest post by Susie Hades, Founder, Personally Cool, Inc

Posted by Liz on May 7, 2012 in hot flash, HRT | 0 comments

You may recall that about a week ago, I took the mick out of ColdFront, a new personal cooling system designed to cool those hot flashes. The day that the post ran, ColdFront inventor and Personally Cool Founder Susie Hades posted a comment with an offer to provide with me a sample so that I could try it for myself. Although I turned Susie’s offer down, I did reach out to her via email and phone and we had a lengthy conversation about her vision and the product. And you know what? I was impressed by her philosophy and approach, so much so that I offered her a guest spot on Flashfree.

Part of my mission is to reveal products and agents that work and that don’t, to uncover snake oil approaches and provide data-driven alternative solutions. Mostly though, I believe that information is truly power AND empowering, and that by educating ourselves, we are in a better position to play a role in driving and shaping decisions about our health and our healthcare.

Susie’s goal is not unlike mine and I encourage you to show some love. And Susie? I am glad that we had a chance to exchange ideas and start what is certain to be more than one conversation. We need more of those exchanges if we are ever going to move menopause out from under the Menopause Industrial Complex and into the hands of women who want viable and safe solutions.

I founded Personally Cool in 2007 because I couldn’t find what I call an “and” product for hot flash relief: drug-free; AND effective; AND safe; AND convenient; AND discreet; AND elegant; AND eco- and wallet-friendly.

I must have bought and tried one of almost every type of hot flash relief product available with the exception of bio-identical or hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Even though the efficacy was unquestionable, the data tell a larger story for HRT.

In 2002, increased risks of breast cancer, stroke, and a number of other side effects were widely expressed across various studies. As a result, prescriptions of Prempro (a leading Wyeth/Pfizer HRT product) dropped 80% by the fourth quarter of 2003.[1] Women, frightened and confused by the findings of these studies, wanted other choices.

Our own research (both initial and a just-completed survey of 300 women) confirms that women are still looking for safe alternatives to HRT. We also learned a number of other interesting facts – from how often and with what severity women hot flash, to how they handle them. Two poignant realities were derived from this last point. First, more than 80% of the women we surveyed had either never used HRT or they stopped at the advice of doctors or of their own volition. Second, more than 55% of the women currently experiencing hot flashes – given the choices they’ve faced until now – deliberately choose to do nothing at all. In other words, they literally sweat them out.

I invented coldfront to be the “AND” product that other products aren’t, and I am proud to say that it is. A test panel conducted late in our product development to make sure that we got it right was critically helpful. We abandoned certain product features that we loved but that our intended audience didn’t. After testing coldfront for three days, over 80% of our panelists reported that they’d never use anything other than coldfront to relieve their hot flashes. This was huge!

Yes, coldfront is great at cooling a hot flash, but we couldn’t ignore larger forces at work – the enormous need for psychological and social relief from the stigma of menopause. Although we’re living up to a third of our lives post-menopause, our society still sees menopausal women in an unflattering light. Among women my age, there is a growing desire to reassert control over our own lives and bodies, and to put a stop to allowing other people to define for us what this time of life should mean. Personally Cool wants to change the perception of midlife women and create our own conversation. When we say, “we make menopause cool,” we mean it – on a number of levels!

With coldfront, we are encouraging women to take charge of their own relief, which – in our case (pun totally intended!) – is no farther away than your handbag and no more complicated than what we already know works – cold – especially when it’s in the palm of your hand. It is so discreet and convenient that it allows most women to get through a hot flash without letting anyone know they’ve even had one.

And this, ultimately, is what sets coldfront apart from every other cold therapy product available today:

1. coldfront was designed in every way to be compatible with the life of a menopausal woman who defines herself, simply, as a woman. It is the least intrusive, most effective, complete, and portable cold therapy system for hot flashing women on the market.
2. coldfront can go right from the freezer to your bag because it was engineered to be condensation-free. Your bag, phone, or iPad will not get wet; you won’t be uncomfortable; and you don’t have to worry about batteries or enlarging your “carbon footprint.”
3. Each woman experiences hot flashes differently and in different parts of their bodies. The two palm packs are formulated to last the average length of a hot flash, 1-3 minutes, and they can go wherever a woman needs them. After replacing them back in the case, within 20 minutes they will be cool again and ready for use.
4. Hot flashes make you sweat! The antimicrobial super absorbent cloth wicks away moisture and is easily washed.
5. Your day is long, and you’re not always near a freezer. coldfront will continue re-cooling the palm packs for up to 12 hours.
6. Unlike one-time use cold packs, which can create over 600 pounds of toxic waste over the course of five hot-flashing years, and literally cost thousands of dollars, coldfront is phthalate-free, non-toxic, and costs less than $100 over the life of the product.
7. Everything in the system is reusable and is designed to last.

Liz, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to your community and to speak about our product. Because women all experience menopause and hot flashes differently, we know that coldfront won’t be for everyone. But, we believe deeply that coldfront is something special – not just because it works, but because it speaks to a societal issue we believe we can change.

Here’s to a new kind of coldfront moving in!

Susie

Wednesday Bubble: Forget the Baubles!

Posted by Liz on May 2, 2012 in hot flash, humour | 3 comments

[Image: http://bedrock.deadsquid.com/information/profiles/index.php?profile=wilma]

You need Hot Girls Pearls! 

I’m giving full credit to my BBFF Amy Zimmerman for this fantabulous find. And if you are wondering about these baubles, they’re for all you flashing fashionista babes who think being cool and confident isn’t just a cliche. In fact, Hot Girls Pearls contain an icy gel to make sure that you won’t be sweating at the office or during a dinner date. Going out for a hot night on the town? The only thing that’s gonna be hotter than you sister is that woman next to you without her pearls! That is, if you dig the “Wilma Flintstone” look (as Amy points out). And lordy lord, how much do these babies weigh, anyhow? Just looking at them causes me to break into a sweat.

Still, I haven’t tried them and you know what they say “don’t knock it til you try it.’ Personally, this isn’t my look and big pearls are just baubles gone bad in my book.

Yikes! This one’s got ‘burstable’ written all over it.

p.s. show Amy some love and visit her wonderful blog post about these babies…

Happy Birthday!

Posted by Liz on Apr 27, 2012 in hot flash, humour | 0 comments

I know a few fine women with birthdays this month. Bet you do too. So in their honour, I am simply saying, if you can’t find any matches…

It’s Friday! Time for some folly and fun!

Forecast: there’s a Coldfront moving through

Posted by Liz on Apr 23, 2012 in hot flash, HRT | 2 comments

“Cold front” you say? But it’s Spring in the Northeast and temps have been pretty warm.

Nope, not Cold Front, but Coldfront®, a new personal cooling system designed to cool flashes when they hit.

Coldfront is not unlike Cleavage Coolers, the revolutionary product that fits right into your bra like rubber chickens. However, these nifty little Coldfront packs fit into a container the size of a sunglass case, are the size of your palm and reportedly soft to the touch and stay cold all day because of a built-in cooling core. When those hot flashes hit, just pull one of these babies out and palm those sweats right out of your life. No drugs and a reusable cloth that wicks moisture away. The company describes Coldfront as “safe, effective, discreet, convenient, mess free, environmentally friendly” and best of all: “elegant.”

I’m not entirely sure about the last adjective and hardly believe that the carrying case would easily double as a purse on a night out on the town. Still, Coldfront is not the first product based on cold technology to address the body’s sudden inability to regulate its internal thermometer. And yet, at a pricepoint of $50, it seems like a reasonable investment compared to other HRT alternatives that require a bit more of a time and financial commitment.

I have not seen the product nor do I know anyone who’s used it. Personally, I am a bit skeptical but it’s my job to be. And, I never truly believe testimonials on a website; what company publishes negative feedback? What’s more, the product, like cleavage coolers, the bedfan, the chillow, chillipads and gelmats, all rely on a woman who wants some ice, ice, baby! I dunno, but I run hot/cold on this whole approach.

Have you heard of Coldfront? Have you personally used the product? Inquiring minds need to know!

Soy…revisited

Posted by Liz on Apr 9, 2012 in hot flash | 3 comments

It’s been a rough ride for soy, with studies often at odds regarding its effectiveness in ameliorating or preventing hot flashes. Some reviews have shown that soy isoflavones, in particular S-equol and genistein can alleviate hot flashes while others fail to finding anything conclusive. Still, the original observation that Japanese women appear to suffer less frequently from hot flashes and have a high consumption of soy isoflavones has led researchers to keep trying to tease out the benefits of soy.

I am glad that they have. In fact, in a study published online in Menopause  just a few weeks ago, researchers reported that an extensive review of 19 scientifically sound trials has shown that soy isoflavones are significantly more effective than placebo in reducing both the frequency and severity of hot flashes.

Here’s what you need to know:

• 19 trials were included for analysis and a variety soy isoflavone supplements in different doses ranging from 30 mg to 135 mg daily were studied. Some of these were natural formulations and others, chemically synthesized to match key ingredients believed to have a health effect.
• Hot flash severity and frequency were examined in women that were either premenopausal, perimenopausal or menopausal (i.e. postmenopausal) although definitions used to define this group differed between studies.
• The number of women in these studies totalled over 1,200.

The results showed that taking 30 to 80 mg soy isoflavones daily for 6 months to a year significantly reduced the frequency of hot flashes by roughly 17%. Moreover, the 10 trials analyzed for hot flash severity showed a significant reduction by as much as 30%. In both cases, these figures increased depending on how the researchers teased out and analyzed the data.

The researchers say that even though there is a common perception that results from soy trials have been mixed, there has been a “consistent and clear pattern in favor of isoflavones over placebo” when properly plotted on a graph. Moreover? The scientifically designed studies that were included in their analysis helped to insure that all populations, including women with breast cancer, were included. Additionally, they analyzed studies that were as short as 6 weeks in duration, namely to determine if women with cancer not receiving treatment would respond the same as healthy women. Additionally, there is some indication that the effectiveness of soy actually increases over time with continuous use.

What about the type of soy isoflavone? This review actually shows that genestein is more effective than daidzein for alleviating hot flashes.

The key take away is that for women who don’t want to use hormone replacement or are ineligible to do so, there is a scientifically proven effective alternative: soy. And while soy may disturb the GI tract in some women, it is actually quite safe, even among women with breast cancer.

So far, so good. The next step is to determine which factors matter most to gain benefit, e.g. dose, formulation, hot flash frequency and how long a woman needs to remain on treatment.