Menopausal Health
Vasomotor Symptoms
Up to 88% of women transitioning through menopause experience vasomotor symptoms. Hot flashes are transient episodes ranging from a warming sensation to intense heat on the upper body and face, redness, and perspiration, sometimes followed by chills. Some women experience premonitory symptoms before a hot flash, such as tingling, anxiety, or pressure in the head. Hot flashes typically last anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes. Night sweats are hot flashes with drenching perspriation that occur during the night, often disrupting sleep.
- The average age of menopause is 51 years..
- Some women begin to have vasomotor symptoms as early as 35 years of age; others continue to have them all the way out to 72 years of age.
- Research shows that most women experience vasomotor symptoms for 4 - 6 years, although longer periods have been reported.
Women who experience vasomotor symptoms say these episodes disrupt daily life.
Thermoregulatory Dysfunction
Estrogens are thought to modulate serotonin and norepinephrine, two neurotransmitters that may play a role in thermoregulation. As estrogen levels fluctuate and decrease, serotonin and norepinephrine levels may become imbalanced, resulting in the thermoregulatory dysfunction that may lead to hot flashes and night sweats.
To learn more about thermoregulatory dysfunction and vasomotor symptoms, please click on the links below.
Educational Resources
Download and print our menopause slide set, plus watch our video:
- Exploring Thermoregulation: Hot Flashes and Night Sweats
- Pathophysiology of Hot Flashes and Night Sweats (Narrated by Nanette Santuro, MD)
- Pathophysiology of Hot Flashes and Night Sweats PowerPoint Slide Deck (ppt file) (Best viewed using Microsoft PowerPoint® 2000 on a computer running Windows® 2000 operating system or later.)
- Interactive Mechanisms of Vasomotor Symptoms (Interactive Module)
Windows and PowerPoint ar registered trademarkes of the Microsoft Corporation, Copyright 2000.
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