It’s inevitable as a woman ages: the production of hormones changes and you’re searching for that natural menopause treatment that will provide hot flash relief.
You’re pretty sure Satan just sat down in the cubicle next to you, but no one else seems to have noticed that the temperature gauge is now reading Kelvin instead of Fahrenheit.
Unless you’ve just swallowed 1500 mg of niacin in a single dose, the is likely the dreaded menopausal hot flash.
Many accept that these are just a part of the menopausal transition. But your best friend laughs at you bathing in an ice bath because she never experienced menopausal flushes. You’ve also heard that Asian women generally have less problems with hot flushes than American women.
As unfair as this sounds, is this really true and, if so, is there really a reason why some women experience dramatic menopausal hot flashes and some barely notice the transition?
Certainly a quick Internet search for hot flash relief will lead you to a long list of natural menopause treatment supplements typically containing herbs like black cohosh or soy isoflavones.
Off course, if “natural” is not your speed, you can always rely on the time tested hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Of course, while it may have been “time tested” is was never actually “research tested” until the Women’s Health Initiative discovered that it was causing much greater harm than benefit. The 40 years of so of the untested HRT use in women is about as close as we can get to an epic failure of the medical process as possible.
Back to the hot flash relief topic.
Overall, it’s clear that not every women has the same experience as it relates to menopausal hot flashes. This particular article may begin to explain why.
And it all boils down to our old friend prediabetes.
Researchers looked at the frequency of hot flushes as it related to a marker of insulin resistance (called HOMA, or homeostasis model assessment). The higher the HOMA, the more prediabetic someone is. Here are the findings:
- In women experiencing 1-5 hot flashes per day the HOMA index was 237% higher
- At 6 or more hot flushes per day it was 591% higher.
- Hormone levels of estradiol (e2) or follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) did not affect the results.
Overall, this is really NOT good. Based on this, if you are experiencing more frequent hot flashes, it may mean that you are on a full sprint towards developing diabetes.
What this means is that natural menopause treatment for hot flash relief is not going to come in a bottle. Rather, you need to evaluate your entire lifestyle and make healthier changes to protect your heart and protect against diabetes as you age.
If you experienced severe hot flashes during menopause, what did you find that was able to help?