SWAN results also contributed to a better understanding of risk factors for hot
flashes. Smoking was confirmed to be strongly associated with persistent hot
flashes, due to tobacco's well-researched anti-estrogenic effects.
Levels of HDL cholesterol were significantly higher in women who reported 6 or more days of hot
flashes during the past 2 weeks, compared with those who reported no hot
flashes, but HDL levels were not significantly different between women who reported 1-5 days of hot
flashes and those who reported no hot
flashes.
The positive relationship between hot
flashes and lipoprotein (a), and between hot
flashes and HDL in some women, were surprising, Dr.
"Our findings show that the benefit of higher fat levels for hot
flashes is not apparent until a woman is about 60 years old," she stated.
His research suggests that hot
flashes are triggered when a woman's core body temperature rises slightly.
"If you're having bad hot
flashes and you've tried other things, like black cohosh and vitamin E, and you're still having hot
flashes, my view is there is no need to suffer or 'tough it out,'" she says.
In the escitalopram group, average hot flash frequency at week 8 decreased to 5.26 hot
flashes per day.
Receiving a placebo lessened the number of hot
flashes by one or two per day, the overview showed.
One three-year study of a triphasic oral contraceptive in 200 perimenopausal women found it significantly reduced women's hot
flashes when compared to placebo.
Compelling evidence suggests that regular exercise may reduce the number and severity of hot
flashes. In one study, for instance, Swedish researchers evaluated 793 postmenopausal women on their exercise habits and the prevalence of hot
flashes.
Two of them found that soy curbed hot
flashes. But even though both studies used similar soy powders, their results were inconsistent:
Evidence: In the best study on black cohosh root, 30 women who took Remifemin for 12 weeks reported far fewer hot
flashes and other symptoms than 20 similar women who were given a placebo.(1) But in the same study, 30 other women who were given estrogen reported no more relief than women who took a placebo.