Hot flashes are a symptom of menopause.Photo:Getty
Getty
Hot flashes are often dismissed as an unpleasant symptom ofmenopause, more inconvenient than harmful.
However, a new study has found a link between hot flashes,Alzheimer’s diseaseand heart disease, according toCNN.
For the study, blood was drawn and analyzed from women who wore devices overnight that monitored their sweat and sleep.
In the Alzheimer’s study, researchers were looking for a specific protein — beta-amyloid 42/40 —which theNational Institute of Healthsays “appears to play a central role in the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease.”
“This is the first time science has shown hot flashes are linked to blood biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Women’s Health Specialty Clinic and medical director forThe Menopause Society, told CNN.
Hot flashes are a symptom of menopause.Getty Images/iStockphoto
Getty Images/iStockphoto
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The average age for menopause in the United States is 51, according tothe Mayo Clinic, but symptoms may start long beforehand.
“We found night sweats were associated with adverse beta-amyloid 42/40 profiles, indicating that hot flashes experienced during sleep may be a marker of women at risk of Alzheimer’s dementia,” lead study author Dr. Rebecca Thurston, a professor of psychiatry, epidemiology and psychology who directs the Women’s Biobehavioral Health Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh’s Pitt Public Health, told CNN.
“This is the first study to examine physiologically measured hot flashes in relation to inflammation and adds evidence to a growing body of literature suggesting that hot flashes may signify underlying vascular risk,” lead author Mary Carson, a clinical and bio-health doctoral student in the department of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, told CNN in a statement.
Researchers pointed out that hot flashes weren’t a cause of Alzheimer’s disease or heart disease, merely an indicator; They cautioned those experiencing hot flashes to speak with their doctors and take proactive measures to ensure good heart health.
source: people.com
