Hot flashes are the most common symptom women experience in the time leading up to and during menopause. They can occur at any time and range in frequency and severity. Night sweats are hot flashes that occur at night. Night sweats are a game-changer that can cause severe consequences if they are chronic. Keep reading to learn more about this dark side of menopause-related hot flashes.
Hot Flashes Can Leave You a Hot Mess
Before we go any further, let’s take a moment to understand what happens during a hot flash. Hot flashes are feel like a sudden rush of a heat sensation in the upper torso and face. The face may become red, and you may get chills as your body tries to cool itself down by sweating. Some experience mild symptoms, while the frequency and severity of others affect their daily lives.
Night Sweats and Sleep
During a night sweat, women report they awake from their sleep in a drenching sweat. Occasional occurrences may not be that big of a deal, but regular episodes cause long-term sleep disruptions. It’s no secret that sleep is an essential function. It recharges the body and quite literally enables our brains to function normally.
Understandably, chronic sleep loss can have serious consequences when left untreated. Sleep deficiency is linked to chronic health issues affecting the heart, kidneys, blood, brain, and mental health. Specific examples include:
- Changes in mood
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Memory issues
- Difficulty with focusing and concentrating
- Impaired motor function
- Chronic fatigue
- Weakened immune system
- Weight gain
- High blood pressure
- Insulin resistance
- Diabetes and heart disease
- increased risk of early death
Hot Flash Treatments and the Research Efforts Helping to Improve Options
If you’re sitting there wondering how we got from night sweats to increased risk of early death, the answer is sleep. Hot flashes are a lot of things-embarrassing, disruptive, annoying; the list goes on. If you take anything away from this blog, it is that they are treatable. Gone are the days where women weathered the symptoms of menopause with determination, grit, and acceptance.
Many women have mild symptoms and aren’t bothered by them. In more severe cases, hormonal and non-hormonal options provide effective relief. Healthier lifestyle choices provide further help when done in addition to prescribed treatments or in place of them.
We’ve come a long way in what we know about hot flashes and developing effective ways to treat them in recent years. Thanks to ongoing efforts, potential new options are being evaluated in clinical research studies. The future is brighter than ever for hot flash sufferers, but we can’t do it without study volunteers. Get involved today! Call us at (858) 505-8672 or visit our website today!
Sources:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hot-flashes/symptoms-causes/syc-20352790
https://www.healthline.com/health/why-do-we-sleep#lack-of-sleep