Posts Tagged "hot flash"

Something’s fishy

Posted by Liz on Dec 12, 2008 in bone health, heart disease, hot flash | 5 comments

A small study in the online edition of the journal Menopause suggests that a supplement containing  omega-3 fatty acids may help reduce hot flashes in menopausal women.

Canadian researchers evaluated the influence of omega-3 supplementation in 120 women (between the ages of 40 and 55) experiencing hot flashes who took either a real pill containing oeicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or dummy pill for 8 weeks.  At the start, study participants had an average of 2.8 hot flashes daily.

At the study’s end, women taking omega-3 fatty acids had 1.5 times fewer hot flashes daily compared to women taking dummy pills, whose hot flash frequency decline by 50%. Hot flash severity, however, remained similar between the groups and the use of omega-3s did not impact mood or other quality of life factors.

Although the researchers caution that more study is needed, it’s important to note that earlier data do suggest that omega-3s may be useful in reducing hot flashes.  Regardless, the benefits of incorporating omega-3s in midlife, which include potential protection against heart disease and osteroporosis, should not be overlooked.

Hot Flasher

Posted by Liz on Nov 28, 2008 in hot flash, sleep disturbance | 0 comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glAPFCKiB6g]

[Disclosure 1: just substitute the words “hot flasher!”  Disclosure 2: This song has been on my mind lately so needed to find a way to work it into the blog – thanks for indulging me!]

A new study published in the online edition of Menopause Journal has shown that hot flashes influence sleep in a stepwise or graduated fashion.

In this study, researchers analyzed data from 217 postmenopausal women between the ages of 40 and 60 years; information about hot flash frequency and severity was recorded in a daily diary, and sleep-wake patterns measured over an average of seven 24-hour periods in a subset of 112 women.

The results showed an association between moderate to severe insomnia frequency and severity of hot flashes and:

• Greater nighttime wakefulness
• A higher number of long wake episodes

So what can you do?

I’ve posted previously about the wonders of yoga to both sleep disturbance and flashes. Acupuncture might also help. And of course, that old black magic…cohosh.

Short of that…well, nothing like a little Pat Benatar…

Ladies of the world, flashers, sweat-ers, mood swingers…

Posted by Liz on Oct 19, 2008 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Lend me your ears….you have your own DAY! In the U.S. we give you a month. But the world gives you a day!

If you don’t know what I’m yammering on about, yesterday was World Menopause Day. I posted this rant over at BitchBuzz after Editor Cate Sevilla sent me a link to a press release announcing that Waterstone Books was carrying the Hot Flush Diary.

Last month was National Menopause Month in the U.S. Now, the ‘world of women in menopause’ actually has a day. I swear if it weren’t abundantly clear that the initiative was likely being driven by national medicine societies and pharmaceutical companies, I’d suspect that Hallmark and PaperHouse had conspired to sell more cards.

Here’s the challenge issued by the International Menopause Society (IMS):

“The World Menopause Day challenge therefore calls on every woman age 45 and older to return to her physician and speak about her individual health history, her risks for diseases, the benefits and risks of available treatments for disease prevention, and steps she can take now to take charge of her health.”

President Hermann Schneider of the IMS also says:

“Due to the recent publications on the risks of long-term use of hormone therapy, many women suffering from menopausal complaints have either dropped out of therapy or haven’t started therapy at all.”

Okay. I truly believe that it’s a great idea to take charge of one’s health and examine some of the natural changes that occur, not only with menopause, but also with aging. But by lumping them all together in a single pot, well, I cry “foul.”

Did you know that many diseases that the medical community has long associated with menopause are, in fact, due to the aging process? You may recall that I recently wrote about a new study published in the Journal of Hypertension clearly demonstrates that differences in heart disease risk between pre- and post-menopausal women with similar risk profiles existed only when age, NOT ESTROGEN LEVELS, were accounted for. This may be why hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has not been proven to prevent heart disease.

So, until they sort some of these bits out, do we really want to fault women for refusing hormone replacement? Moreover, how many women wish to make a pact with the devil to further the medicalization of menopause? Not I!

Here’s what I propose:

• To the IMS and other medical societies – stop medicalizing what is a natural transition in our mid-lives. Hey, here’s a nifty idea: why not review your data, read alternative medicine peer-reviewed journals and educate yourselves about effective alternative therapies for your patients who have been scared off by the negative findings surrounding HRT and antidepressants and other pharmaceuticals? What’s more, what if you made a greater effort to embrace multidisciplinary collaboration and invite educated and credentialed alternative practitioners into your fold, practitioners who might be able to offer you and your patients important solutions when Western ways fail or are simply, impractical?
• To the World Health Organization – please stop telling us to celebrate the menopause. Trust me – when women are flashing in the middle of a meeting, sweat pouring down their faces as their colleagues look on, or are sleeping on soaking wet sheets because of night sweats, well, they don’t really feel like having a cocktail and a “WOOT,” ain’t life grand”-sort of celebration. Maybe, instead, think about devoting some of that hard research cash toward studies that focus first on women and last on profit.
• To leading women’s health expert and Council Member of the British Menopause Society, Mr. Nick Panay, a Hot Flush Diary is the last thing I want to keep on my nightstand. In fact, the idea of taking notes on all of my hot flashes and night sweats and when/why/how they occur and how they make feel gets me pretty hot under the collar. Tell you what: the next time you have to pee for the zillionth time in the middle of the night, turn on the light and write in your BPH journal how you feel. I would guess that that’s not going to happen, right?

Want to “make this hot woman cool?” Stop making me feel as though menopause is a disease and not a natural transition that all women go through. Stop telling me that I should embrace this part of my life without fighting it every step of the way. And please, stop treating my body as if it’s disconnected from my mind.

Seeds of the Change

Posted by Liz on Sep 27, 2008 in heart disease, hot flash | 0 comments

Flaxseed evidently has the potential to reduce the frequency and potential of hot flashes associated with menopause.

Last Summer, researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN reported results of a small trial enrolling 29 postmenopausal women who were experiencing at least 14 hot flashes weekly for a month. None of the study participants were taking estrogen or herbal preparations for their symptoms, but for six weeks, ingested 40 grams (~2.8 tbs) daily of crushed flaxseed.

Not only did the frequency of hot flashes decline by 50%, but overall severity of hot flashes decreased by 57%. Study participants also reported improvements in their mood, joint or muscle pain, chills and sweating, all of which significantly improved their quality of life.

The researchers concluded that flaxseed is potentially an effective treatment for hot flashes and imparts overall health and psychological benefits.

The downside? 50% of women experienced mild or moderate bloating and 29%, mild diarrhea.

Flaxseed is a plant-based estrogen source (photoestrogen)  that contains antioxidants with weak estrogen properties (lignans) and omega-3 fatty acids. It is also an excellent source of fiber. Various studies have not only touted its benefits for heart disease prevention but also suggest that it might boost the effects of conventional breast cancer therapies.

Most health experts recommend ground flaxseed over whole because it is more easily digestible in this form. It should be taken with ample amounts of water to avoid any gastrointestinal blockage. Flaxseed can also inhibit the ability of the blood to clot after injury so if you’re taking any heart medications or planning surgery, you might want to speak to your doctor before trying it. Additionally, it may exacerbate the effects of herbs that interfere with clotting such as:

• Danshen
• Devil’s Claw
• Eeuthero
• Garlic
• Ginger (in large amounts)
• Ginkgo
• Horse Chestnut
• Panax Ginseng
• Papain
• Red Clover
• Saw Palmetto

Personally, I don’t care for the taste of flaxseed.  However, it can be baked or added to other foods. In fact, some of these recipes look pretty tasty.

Do you take flaxseed? How has it helped your menopausal symptoms? Any recipes you’d like to share?

You’re getting veerry sleeepy…

Posted by Liz on Sep 25, 2008 in hot flash, mind-body therapy | 0 comments

Baylor University researchers report that hypnosis might represent an effective intervention for hot flashes in women with breast cancer.

Makes one wonder if mind-body treatments might represent a viable alternative for all menopausal women?

In the study, which appears in the online edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, 60 breast cancer survivors with hot flashes received 5 weekly hypnosis sessions or no treatment.

The women who received hypnosis reported a 68% decline in hot flash scores. Significant improvements were also observed in anxiety levels, depression, the degree to which hot flashes interrupted daily activities and sleep.

One topic which I’ve not yet addressed on Flashfree is the association between breast cancer treatments and menopause. Indeed, adjuvant therapy, which is a term used to characterize chemotherapy and/or hormonal treatments after breast cancer surgery, often launches as many as 10 to 50 percent of women younger than 40 and in 50 to 94 percent of women over 40 into early menopause. In fact, treatments for breast cancer can cause women to go into menopause in a matter of days.

The reason is that chemotherapy can damage the ovaries and affect their ability to produce normal levels of estrogen. Depending on the type of agent used and a woman’s age, it is possible for regular ovarian function to return. But for some women, early menopause may be permanent. Importantly, hormone replacement is not an option in breast cancer survivors due to an increased risk of recurrence. This makes alternatives even more important.

The results of this specific study resulted in a $2.6 million grant to Baylor from the National Institutes of Health to fund a broader study. According to Baylor, this is the largest grant ever awarded by NIH for this particular type of research.

The larger trial will enroll 180 women who entered menopause naturally and who are experiencing hot flashes. It will compare hypnotic relaxation therapy plus self-hypnosis techniques to another type of mind-body treatment.