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Research shows women who experience hot flashes could be at risk for heart conditions
For about one third of affected women, hot flashes are persistent and severe. Researchers found women with persistent hot flashes could have increased risk of cardiovascular complications.
ATLANTA - More than 80% of women experience hot flashes, or night sweats, during menopause.
And, researcher Rebecca Thurston, Ph.D., says, for about a third, they are persistent and severe.
"Sometimes, we call them the 'super flashers.' So, they're having lots of hot flashes, that, for many of those women, it really will persist for a long time. So, for 10 years or more."
Thurston, the director of the Women's BioBehavioral Health Program at the University of Pittsburgh, has spent more than a decade studying how midlife hormonal transitions like menopause can affect a woman's cardiovascular health.
Her team has found women with persistent hot flashes are more likely to experience blood vessel changes, such as a buildup of plaque in the vessels, that could raise their long term risk of cardiovascular complications.
"Those women are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke, cardiovascular disease, mortality down the road when they're in their 60s, 70s and beyond," Thurston says.
But, before you start sweating what hot flashes may -- or may not be -- doing to your heart, Thurston says, do not panic.
"So, it just kind of gives us another indicator and perhaps more motivation for women to really do all those things that they know they need to be doing," she says.
Northside Hospital interventional cardiologist Dr Prad Tummala says the study findings shield light on how midlife hormonal shifts may play a role in heart disease.
Still, he says, women should not be alarmed by the findings because there are a lot of things women can do before and during menopause to keep their hearts healthy.
"What we're seeing is that the biggest risk factors that are modifiable are actually the risk factors like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, not eating properly, you know, having being overweight and smoking. So, you know, those are the main risk factors that really lead directly to heart disease, actually. And, if we can focus on that, especially with premenopausal, but also around menopause and later, because the risk of heart disease goes really high, especially after menopause, you know, for women."
Thurston is working on additional research into how the changes women experience in midlife impact their heart health.
She urges women to put their health first and do everything they can to protect their heart as they age.
"So if you have hypertension, get that treated," Thurston says. "Diabetes, get that treated. If you're smoking, now's the time to stop. And, if you are not exercising, now's the time to start. So, really (stay) on top of all those heart-healthy behaviors that we know are so important."