Hot flashes? What to Do Right Now

ResidentInsomniac · Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:43 pm Post subject: Hot flashes? What to Do Right Now

Hot flashes? What to Do Right Now

WebMD Feature from "Health"

By Joan Raymond

Hormones aren’t the only option. Try these 6 tricks.

Your body’s on fire? Hormonal ups and downs are probably causing the blaze. Nearly 4 of 10 women get hot flashes and night sweats during perimenopause, which can start in your late 30s. And more than 80 percent of menopausal women feel the heat. Hormone therapy can solve the problem—but with significant risks of breast cancer and heart disease for some women. So what else works? “Many women have success with a whole-body approach,” says OB-GYN Tracy Gaudet, MD, director of Duke Integrative Medicine. That means lifestyle changes—and maybe even newfangled sheets. Here’s a look at some of the best tricks.

Try: Yoga

A new study from the University of California, San Francisco, hints that taking weekly yoga classes may cut a woman’s number of hot flashes each week by 30 percent. Another study from Pennsylvania State Univer-sity suggests that activities like yoga or walking make meno-pausal women feel better—to the extent that symptoms like hot flashes bothered them less.

Try: Deep breathing

Slow, controlled, deep breaths at the start of a hot flash can cut how often you have them by about 50 percent and may even reduce the intensity, according to several studies from Wayne State University. The key may be stress-reduction: Deep breaths relax you, and less stress means less heat, experts say. The goal is to reduce your breathing cycle (inhaling and exhaling) from about 16 cycles a minute down to about 8. Go to Health.com/links for instructions.

Try: Acupuncture

Menopausal women who tried seven weeks of acupuncture had a 28 percent decrease in the severity of their nighttime hot flashes, according to a small new Stanford University study. That’s compared with a 6 percent decrease for a sham treatment.

Try: Herbs

For centuries, women have claimed that black cohosh helped ease their hot flashes. But a National Institutes of Health (NIH) trial recently found the herb is no better than a placebo. So why bother? Two reasons: Just believing it works may diminish hot flashes for a while, experts say. And new research from the University of Pennsylvania indicates that the herb may lower the risk of breast cancer. Though it’s far too early to take black cohosh for that reason alone, it’s reasonable to try it for hot flashes for a few months, says naturopathic practitioner Jane Guiltinan, a clinical investigator on the NIH trial. There’s no long-term safety data, but the most extensively researched product is Remifemin, available at drugstores ($27.99 for a two-month supply; www.walgreens.com).

Try: Cool-down tricks

Anything that cools your body can help fight the flashes. Dress in layers, and remove one or two as the heat hits; add them if you get the chills afterward. Also, try cool drinks, fans, and icing your wrists. For night sweats, some women have found relief with new sleepwear and bedding by Cool Sets (http://www.coolsets.com), DermaTherapy (http://www.dermatherapyfabrics.com), and Wild Bleu (http://www.wildbleu.com), made from patented fabrics that wick moisture from the skin.

Try: Journaling

Write down your “personal hot flash triggers”—and then be sure to steer clear of them, suggests Barbara Kantrowitz, co-author of Is It Hot in Here? Or Is It Me? The Complete Guide To Menopause. Some common triggers: red wine, spicy food, and, of course, rooms that are too hot!

Source:
WebMD.com
http://www.webmd.com
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