This week I read about a study that linked a history of hot flashes to increased risk for heart disease and decline in brain function. But, to me, this seemed like a strange announcement.
It certainly doesn’t make sense that feeling hot and sweaty could directly increase a person’s risk of heart problems or chances of losing the ability to think and remember. We get hot and sweaty when we exercise, but all experts assure us that exercise lowers the risk for many types of chronic disease, including heart disease.
Presumably, if they’re seeing an association between hot flashes and heart/brain diseases, there must be a common factor that increases the risk of both – in other words, some underlying factor that causes hot flashes must also put you at risk for heart and brain disease.
It surprises me, though, that the researchers paused at such an early phase of their research and made a big, exciting announcement since it doesn’t tell us what the underlying cause is or what we should change to lower the risk. It’s as though they didn’t finish their project... Hopefully, this research isn't suggesting that simply treating hot flashes could lower risk of heart and brain diseases!
I believe we should find and treat the cause of health problems whenever possible, rather than just trying to erase the symptoms. My interpretation of this new information is that there must be some factor that increases both hot flashes, and the risk of heart and brain diseases. So, what could this be?
Well, I studied every bit of information I could find about hormones for over 10 years so let me share some thoughts of what I think might (or might not) explain this association:
Diet – We know that eating a plant-based diet can help reduce hot flashes. Many plant foods contain weak estrogen-like hormones and these can be a mild substitute for our own hormones when they are low, and can block some of the action of our hormones when they are too high. This helps to “even out” our hormone levels. Hot flashes occur when our estrogen levels are dropping so smoothing out the effects of estrogen can help reduce hot flashes and other menopause and peri-menopause symptoms. Eating more vegetables, fruit, and other plant-based foods is also recommended to reduce the risk of heart disease (and many other health problems).
Exercise – Being inactive is a well-established risk factor for heart disease (in fact, as I write this, my hubby is at his cardio rehab program, being put through the paces on several different exercise machines!) but what about hot flashes? A small study (with only 21 women) suggests that regular, more intense workouts that make you sweat can reduce the intensity and frequency of hot flashes. But hot flashes can also be triggered by stress and exercise can help prevent this trigger by lowering stress hormones. Some exercises, like yoga and tai chi, also help reduce your response to stress by inducing a state of relaxation where lower amounts of stress hormones are produced. So, certain types of exercise can help avoid both hot flashes and heart disease.
Smoking – Smoking is an established risk factor for heart disease. But does it also increase hot flashes? Yes. And can quitting smoking help? Also, yes. Women who smoke have more frequent and severe hot flashes. Quitting reduces these but former smokers will still have more than women who never smoked.
Alcohol? – I don’t think so. Consuming a small amount of alcohol has been shown to slightly reduce risk of heart disease, probably by inducing relaxation and relieving stress (Interheart Study). However, alcohol generally increases the chance of having hot flashes, so this would not be a common factor. Alcohol slows the breakdown of estrogens, allowing them to build up in the bloodstream. When the alcohol is cleared from the system a few hours after that nice glass of red wine, estrogen will then be metabolized more quickly, bringing on a hot flash (often interrupting sleep after a drink in the evening).
Body weight? – Having too many extra inches, especially around the waist (an “apple” shape), is associated with increased risk of heart disease compared to a “pear” shape where more weight is carried on the hips. The ratio of waist to hip measurements is considered more important than the actual body weight – if the waist measurement divided by the hip measurement is greater than 0.85 for women or 1 for men (or thereabouts, depending on which reference you read), you are at greater risk of heart disease regardless of what the actual measurements are. However, fatty tissue produces a small amount of estrogen by conversion from other hormones so, having a little extra weight at menopause time may mean you have fewer hot flashes since you have a consistent (if small) supply of estrogen from an alternative source. Perhaps this is why Mother Nature tends to make it so easy to gain a few pounds at mid-life! However, adding an extra 10 pounds or so is thought to increase your resilience to illness as you age, so perhaps it’s not a bad thing...
So, I guess I’ll be watching to see how these researchers continue their studies and, hopefully, they will eventually provide some practical recommendations. I wonder whether the connection might turn out to be diet, exercise or being a non-smoker (or all 3!), as I suspect… At any rate, this research gives another reason to work at having a healthy lifestyle!
References:
Hot flashes connected to heart attacks and cognitive decline - CNN
Exercise May Ease Hot Flashes – NY Times
Waist to Hip Ratio - Wikipedia
