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"Question: What is &amp;quot;one of the great enigmas of women&amp;#039;s health?&amp;quot; Answer: Hot flashes, according to Wulf Utian, founder of the North American Menopause Society in Cleveland. Though hot flashes are perhaps the distinctive sign of the menopause transition, science is no closer to figuring out why some women get them and others don&amp;#039;t. &amp;quot;A third of women don&amp;#039;t have any,&amp;quot; Utian told a reporter in a recent USA Today article. &amp;quot;A third have a problem but it&amp;#039;s tolerable, and a third are miserable.&amp;quot; Which camp do you fall in, reader? The article points out how much has changed in the last ten years regarding treatment for hot flashes \u2013 particularly in light of the 2002 results of the Women&amp;#039;s Health Initiative that showed hormone therapy (HT) increased the risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. Recently, a study found that losing weight helped reduce hot flashes in overweight and obese women. This runs contrary to the old thinking in which it was believed that thinner women (who had less fat and thus less stored estrogen) suffered more from hot flashes. Other recent findings about hot flashes? You might have seen the new FDA warnings last week about Evamist, a topical estradiol (estrogen hormone) spray used to relieve hot flashes. The mist, which is sprayed on the forearms, was found to be extremely risky to children and pets. Inadvertent contact caused premature puberty in young girls, breast swelling in young boys, and mammary/nipple enlargement and vulvar swelling in pets. Women were advised to wear long sleeves and keep pets from licking their arms. I don&amp;#039;t know about you, but if something is that dangerous to fido or fluffy \u2013 never mind a child\u2013 I would think twice about spraying it on my arm. Who knows what the future holds as far as research into hormones and hot flashes goes? Perhaps an alternative that doesn&amp;#039;t involve putting ourselves and others at risk? There are alternatives now of course, and though just like no two women experience hot flashes the same way, no two will probably find relief in the same way. Flax seeds have been found to be beneficial in reducing hot flashes, though if they stay in the fridge, as mine do, they&amp;#039;re not doing anyone any good. But at least they&amp;#039;re not causing nipple swelling in the fruits and vegetables. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/a43155/an-enigma-2252/>