Predicting Hot Flashes

Menopausal symptoms vary widely from woman to woman. Until now, there has been no reliable way to predict which women will have symptoms and which will not. A study done by researchers at the University of Maryland found some possible predictors of menopausal hot flashes. It seems that smoking and having a family history of hot flashes are relevant.

Women who had a mother who experienced hot flashes were about four times as likely to have hot flashes themselves than women whose mothers did not have hot flashes were.

Also, women who smoked were found to be twice as likely to have hot flashes as those who did not smoke. Researchers suggest that smoking may accelerate the loss of estrogen leading to a greater chance of hot flashes.

Other factors such as marital status, income, education, and reproductive factors (i.e. age at onset of menopause, pregnancies, and age of first and last pregnancy) did not show any relation to the development of hot flashes.

REFERENCES
a listing of scientific articles and texts used.