Although hot flashes are the target of many jokes, they can be serious life disruptors for many women impacting overall health and well-being. Flashes are more than just an inconvenience and research aimed at understanding their impact has shown a relationship between nighttime hot flashes and impaired verbal memory. Recent data also suggests that women with hot flashes have lower bone density, thus increasing their risk for osteoporosis.
Proceed With Caution
In the past, many women turned to hormone therapy to alleviate hot flashes. Now, with concerns about the safety of hormone therapy, some are reluctant to take this approach to alleviate menopause symptoms such as flashes. As a result, many are seeking alternative treatment options with variable degrees of success. There are numerous contradictory and inconclusive studies on potential treatments for hot flashes making the decision on appropriate options a challenge. Most rigorously designed clinical trials of herbal therapies have not demonstrated clear effectiveness and some studies, particularly in the case of black cohosh, have identified possible liver toxicities and other adverse effects. Trials have been confounded by the large placebo effect, in other words, many women report improvement with placebo.
Given the mixed results and inconsistent manufacturing quality, it is prudent to proceed with caution when it comes to herbal therapies – be vigilant for side effects and understand herbs may interact with other medications you may be taking.
Low dose hormone therapy, taken for a short duration, does offer relief and may be a good choice for some women. If not, non-prescription approaches may offer relief and incorporating regular aerobic exercise and yoga will reduce flashes.
Your Experience With Flashes
As with many of the issues faced by women as we age, sharing personal experiences can be quite helpful in identifying possible treatment options or lifestyle modifications. To that end, please share your experiences with hot flashes and let us know whether you have obtained relief with treatments such as black cohosh, dong quai, exercise, anti-depressants, yoga or supplements. Tweet @getprimedcoach or share a comment below.
