A recent report in the Journal of Women's Health suggests a way to limit the risk of developing hot flashes during menopause that is definitely not what the doctor ordered: Spend your 30s as a couch potato.
Brian W. Whitcomb and his colleagues at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in Baltimore, suspected physical activity might limit menopausal symptoms, including the often embarassing and always-miserable hot flashes. So, they administered detailed questionnaires to 512 menopausal women, querying them on their activities between the ages of 35 and 40.
The disappointing findings: highly active women were 70 percent more likely to have experienced moderate to severe hot flashes, and 80 percent more likely to suffer hot flashes daily, than were women who had remained largely inactive.
With the epidemic of obesity ravaging populations worldwide, physicians increasingly implore their patients to eat only as much needed to sate hunger--and to exercise regularly. Because regular exercise also helps cut risks of many chronic diseases, from heart problems to diabetes, the researchers caution that "our study results should not serve as an admonishment against regular participation but rather contribute information to the understanding of hot flashes."
The data appear in the journal's January issue. Normally, papers in this journal are available only to subscribers. However, in support of National Women’s Health Week, last week, the publisher is offering free online access to all issues of this peer-reviewed publication through June 15. To see this paper or any other in the journal, go to: http://www.liebertonline.com/jwh.
