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PHILADELPHIA — A heatwave hits us out of nowhere, so intense that some of us are burning our faces and sweating from every pore on our bodies. Welcome to hot flashes and other symptoms of approaching menopause. Experts say about 75% of women will share this experience if they live long enough.
Even if menopause is years or even decades away, now is the time to pay attention. Because, according to emerging science, the experience of menopause can negatively impact your future health.
In an unpublished study presented Wednesday at the Menopause Society Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, severe hot flashes are associated with increases in C-reactive protein, a marker of future heart disease, and a future diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. It was found to be associated with potentially predictive blood biomarkers.
“This is the first time science has shown that hot flashes are associated with blood biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease,” says Stephanie Fabion, president and medical director of the Mayo Clinic Women’s Health Specialty Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. said the doctor. Menopause Society.
“This is further evidence that hot flashes and night sweats may not be as benign as previously thought,” said Fabion, who was not involved in the study.
Alzheimer’s disease risk
Approximately 250 women between the ages of 45 and 67 experiencing symptoms of menopause wore a device for three nights to objectively measure their sleep quality. The woman was also fitted with a sweat monitor to record her hot flashes during the night. The researchers then took blood samples from study participants and tested them for a specific protein biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease called beta-amyloid 42/40.
“Beta-amyloid 42/40 is thought to be a marker of amyloid plaques in the brain, which is a component of the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease dementia,” said study lead author Dr. Rebecca Thurston.
Thurston, professor of psychiatry, epidemiology and psychology, said: “We found that night sweats are associated with a deleterious profile of beta-amyloid 42/40, and hot flashes experienced during sleep are associated with increased risk for women at risk of Alzheimer’s dementia. “This indicates that it may be a marker.” She directs the Women’s Biobehavioral Health Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh Pitt School of Public Health.
Thurston said the biomarker does not identify whether a person has clinical Alzheimer’s disease, only the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the future.
“In other words, nighttime hot flashes are not causing this risk; they are just an indicator of people who are at increased risk,” Fabion said. “Likewise, we don’t know whether treating night sweats reduces risk. We don’t know.”
The study also looked at two biomarkers for the protein tau, another hallmark sign of Alzheimer’s disease, and found no association, Thurston said. “While these biomarkers are still being rapidly developed and are currently being validated, there is still much we need to learn.”
Thanks to objective sleep measurements, the researchers were able to exclude the effects of sleep deprivation, a well-known risk factor for dementia, from their findings. Previous research When we also controlled our sleep, we found that hot flashes and night sweats were related to sleep. poor memory performance and changes in brain structure, Functionality and connectivity.
“All of the findings converge to emphasize that there is something affecting the brain that contributes to nighttime vasomotor symptoms, separate from sleep itself,” she said.
Heart disease
Another study Thurston’s team presented at the conference looked at inflammatory markers of heart disease. Previous research by Thurston found that women who reported having frequent or persistent hot flashes during early menopause had a 50% to 80% increased risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. Did.
Experts say that frequent, moderate to severe hot flashes can last an average of 7 to 10 years, while infrequent or severe hot flashes can last even longer.
In this new study, scientists used sweat monitors from 276 women who participated in exercise. MS heart research More objectively measure the frequency and intensity of hot flashes day and night.
“Many people actually underreport their hot flashes, claiming they don’t occur that often when they actually do,” Fabion says. “Using this monitor, we can objectively quantify them.”
Researchers have determined that the frequency and intensity of hot flashes can be linked to C-reactive protein, a protein that indicates the level of inflammation in the body, which is used to determine the risk of heart disease and stroke in people who don’t already have heart disease. Comparisons were made with blood measurements.
The results showed that daytime hot flashes were associated with elevated levels of C-reactive protein, even after adjusting for other potential causes such as age. body mass index (BMI)education, ethnicity, the hormone estradiol, and race.
“This is the first study to examine physiologically measured hot flashes in relation to inflammation, and adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that hot flashes may represent a potential vascular risk.” said lead author Mary Carson, a clinical biohealth doctoral student. researchers from the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Psychology said in a statement.
What you can do
Because heart disease is the leading cause of death for women around the world, doctors need to start asking patients about their experience of hot flashes as a risk factor for future disease, Fabion said.
“Women who are particularly likely to experience night sweats may need to be evaluated for their overall cardiovascular risk,” she says.
“As for what to do, the recommendations will be the same for heart and brain health: get better sleep, eat right, have a regular exercise program, reduce stress, stay socially connected, It’s about doing something that inspires you.”
