What Are Hot Flashes?

Hot Flashes, the notorious defining symptom of menopause, is characterized as a sudden, extreme sensation of heat engulfing specific areas of the body like the neck, back, chest, head, torso or even the entire body.  They can last from a few seconds to minutes and frequently are accompanied by sweating, headaches, anxiety, increased heart rate and nausea.

Too often discarded as a source of middle age drama and comedy, the sudden rise of a woman's body temperature, often equated to an internal explosion, can cause severe interruptions to women’s normal life.  Many women find they cannot make it through the day or sleep through the night without interruption as their body moves from freezing to overheating within seconds.  Hot flashes range in severity from woman to woman; however, almost all women experience this symptom to some degree during their lives, mostly before their monthly cycles, and enhanced in intensity and frequency during menopause.

The Role of Hormones

Hot Flashes are the direct result of hormonal fluctuations. Rapid drops in hormone levels, specifically estrogen, triggered in response to pulses of pituitary hormone, cause the vascular changes that translate into hot flashes. The pituitary gland, the master gland located in the center of the brain that directs all hormone functions in the body, sends pulses of pituitary hormones to stimulate ovarian production of estrogen when the levels of circulating estrogen in the blood stream are too low. During menopause, the ovaries are no longer able to respond to the pituitary gland’s instruction and, instead, the pituitary hormone pulses become the source of vascular instability that define the hot flash.

Fluctuating estrogen levels directly impact the hypothalamus (linked to the pituitary), another highly specialized area of the brain that controls appetite, sleep, sex hormones and temperature-control.  During estrogen fluctuations without the balancing effects of progesterone, the hypothalamus is tricked into thinking that the body is hot and causes hot flashes to rid the body of perceived excess heat. Secondary symptoms include the disruption of appetite and sleep.

Effective Treatment

Women do not have to accept the uncomfortable and inconvenient symptoms caused by hot flashes or other symptoms of hormone fluctuations and diminution. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) addresses the root cause of the problem by introducing the missing estradiol and progesterone, as well as thyroid and testosterone, rebalancing levels naturally with hormone preparations that are identical to the hormones our bodies make in response to the pituitary requests.

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) with natural hormones provides a gentle, safe and effective way to restore hormonal balance, relieving hot flashes and resulting in the recovery of youth and vitality.

Unlike the synthetic hormones produced from animal estrogens and synthetic progestins not identical to our human hormones, bioidentical hormones are exact replicas of the hormones produced naturally by our bodies naturally. The body responds by accepting bioidentical hormones into the human cell hormone receptors and recreating the optimum hormone balance that keeps our body functions balanced and healthy.

Diet, exercise, and proper nutritional supplementation also play an important role in reduction of hot flashes and overall health and prevention.

To assess your symptoms and to learn more about how bioidentical hormones and the other safe and effective tools of Age Management medicine can help you achieve optimum hormone balance, relieve hot flashes and enhance well being, contact a certified RestoreMD bioidentical hormone doctor in your area.