Hot Flashes—How Long ??

Dr. Annil Mahajan

Dr. Ranu Patni

The current issue of the Journal of Mid-life Health is the first issue with the new editorial team, with Dr. Ranu Patni and Dr. Annil Mahajan being the chief editors of the journal. This journal is an official publication of Indian Menopause Society and is published quarterly. The journal was started in 2010 and has been included in PubMed and Scopus with the sincere and collective efforts of the past editors and the Publisher Focus of the journal is to promote the scientific data regarding midlife Accompanying piece of editorial deals with menopause-related hot flashes and night sweats.

Relief for hot flashes, a predominant symptom of menopause, is among the most common reasons for clinical visits of mid-life women and a major cost in health-care expenditures. Hot flashes are associated with poor sleep, depressed mood, and decreased quality of life and may worsen depressive symptoms and signal the onset or relapse of a major depressive episode.[1]

According to the conventional medical wisdom, menopause-related hot flashes fade away after 6–24 months. Not so, says a new study of women going through menopause. Hot flashes and night sweats last, on average, for about 7 years and may go on for 11 years or more.

The new estimates of the duration of these symptoms come from the Study of Women's Health across the Nation (SWAN), a long-term study of women of different races and ethnicities who are in the menopause transition.[2]

“The data from this study confirm what many women already know firsthand. Hot flashes can go on for years and take a toll on a woman's health and well-being,” says Dr. Joann Manson, Professor of Women's health at Harward Medical School and Professor of Epidemiology at Harward School of Public health. The SWAN Researchers found that some women are more likely to deal with long-term hot flashes than others. Women who had their first hot flashes before their menstrual periods ended had them for an average of 9–10 years. When hot flashes did not start until after the last menstrual period, the average duration was only about 3½ years. In this study, women who experienced hot flashes for a longer time tended to be current or former smokers, overweight, stressed, depressed, or anxious. Furthermore, ethnicity played a role as African-American women reported the longest duration of hot flashes (>11 years) as compared to Japanese and Chinese who experienced them for about half that time.

According to a recent American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' report, previous clinical guidelines suggested that most women experience hot flashes from 6 months to 2 years, but epidemiological studies cast doubt on these figures, finding durations between 5 and 13 years. However, in one of the studies conducted, it was found that it is not simply the length of follow-up, but the menopausal stage at onset that more accurately identifies hot flash duration. Women who reported onset of moderate/severe hot flushes as they entered the menopause transition had a duration of >11 years; in contrast, women whose onset of moderate/severe hot flushes was in the late transition or postmenopausal stages had a median duration of approximately 4 years.[3]

The “reality” check the SWAN study provides on hot flashes should encourage women to seek solutions. If hot flashes and night sweats are really bothering a woman, she should not put up with them. She should consult the doctor about treatment options.

I, along with Dr. Ranu Patni, take this opportunity to thank the Indian Menopause Society for bestowing upon us the responsibility of editorship. We shall try our best to maintain and uplift the standard of publications with the help of all our colleagues.