Menopause is a natural biological process that marks the end of your menstrual cycles. It’s diagnosed after you’ve gone 12 months without a menstrual period. Menopause symptoms affect women between the ages of 40 and 65. Hot flashes, also called vasomotor symptoms, are the most common symptom that women experience in menopause as the body’s ability to regulate temperature is affected by changing hormonal levels.

• Hot flashes are sudden feelings of warmth, which are usually most intense over the face, neck and chest. Your skin might redden, as if you’re blushing. Hot flashes can also cause sweating, and if you lose too much body heat, you might feel chilled afterward.
• Many women also experience hot flashes at night (called night sweats) – waking up drenched in sweat and unable to get back to sleep.
• How often hot flashes occur varies among women and can range from a few a week to several an hour. Symptoms typically last up to 7 years. 15% of women who have hot flashes suffer with them for more than 15 years, often several per day and up to 50-60 per week
• When hot flashes happen during the day, many women can muscle through them – remove a sweater, turn on a fan. But when they heat up at 3 a.m., they can wake women up and leave them sweaty, restless and tired. Night sweats can cause daytime fatigue, irritability and even forgetfulness.
• For 10 to 15 percent of women, hot flashes are so severe that they disrupt normal functions.

Hormone replacement therapy is often prescribed, but has a higher risk for some women for breast cancer. Medications such as antidepressants and anti-seizure drugs also might help reduce hot flashes, although they’re less effective than hormones. Better treatment options are needed, and researchers are evaluating a nonhormonal study medication that is not available from regular doctors.

Take the next step to see if you qualify for local research studies for women with hot flashes. But don’t delay — space is limited!