Romys Binekasri, CNBC Indonesia
Lifestyle
Thursday, 09/28/2023 17:50 WIB
Photo: Illustration of Menopause. (Doc: Freepik)
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Hot flashes or heat that appears suddenly for some people until the face feels burning and sweat pours out from every pore of the body can be a sign of menopause symptoms. And, research finds, hot flashes can show signs of Alzheimer’s risk.
Quoting CNN International, experts say this will be experienced by around 75% of women. Even though menopause is still years or decades away, now is the time to pay attention to your body’s health.
An unpublished study presented at The Menopause Society’s annual meeting in Philadelphia found intense hot flashes were associated with increases in C-reactive protein, which is a marker of future heart disease. Blood biomarkers can predict a later diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
“This is the first time science has shown that hot flashes are linked to blood biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, director of Mayo Clinic’s Women’s Health Specialty Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and medical director for The Menopause Society, was quoted Thursday (28/9).
“This is another piece of evidence that tells us that hot flashes and night sweats may not be as benign as we thought in the past,” Faubion said.
Alzheimer’s Risk
A study used 250 women aged between 45 and 67 years as respondents who experienced menopausal symptoms wearing a device to objectively measure the quality of their sleep for three nights. The women were also fitted with sweat monitors to record their hot flashes on one of the nights.
The researchers then took blood samples from the participants and examined them for a biomarker of an Alzheimer’s disease-specific protein called beta-amyloid 42/40.
“Beta-amyloid 42/40 is considered a marker of amyloid plaques in the brain, which is one of the pathophysiological components of Alzheimer’s disease dementia. We found night sweats were associated with an adverse beta-amyloid 42/40 profile, suggesting that hot flashes experienced during sleep may be a marker of women at risk for Alzheimer’s dementia,” said Thurston, a professor of psychiatry, epidemiology and psychology who directs the Women’s Biobehavioral Health Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh Pitt Public Health.
He said, this biomarker does not identify whether someone is clinically suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, but only the possibility of developing this disease in the future. “In other words, hot flashes at night do not cause this risk. They are just a marker of people who are at higher risk,” Faubion said.
Additionally, it is not known whether treating night sweats will reduce the risk. “This biomarker is still undergoing rapid development, and although it has been validated at this time, there is still a lot we need to learn,” he added.
Because of the objective sleep measurements, the researchers were able to rule out the role of sleep deprivation, a well-known risk factor for dementia, in these findings.
Previous research that also controlled for sleep found that hot flashes and night sweats were linked to poor memory performance and changes in brain structure, function and connectivity.
“All of these findings combine to underscore that there is something about these nocturnal vasomotor symptoms, other than sleep itself, that affects the brain,” he said.
Heart disease
Another study presented at the conference by Thurston’s team looked at inflammatory markers for heart disease. Previous research by Thurston found that women who said they experienced frequent hot flashes during early menopause had a 50% to 80% increased risk of experiencing cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
Moderate to severe frequent hot flashes can often last seven to 10 years, and less frequent or more severe hot flashes can last even longer.
In this new study, scientists used sweat monitors on 276 women who were part of the MSHeart study to more objectively measure the frequency and intensity of hot flashes during the day and night.
Next, the researchers compared the frequency and intensity of hot flashes with measurements of C-reactive protein in the blood, 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 do not already have heart disease.
The results showed daytime hot flashes were associated with higher 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 evidence to the growing literature showing that hot flashes may signal underlying vascular risk,” said lead author Mary Carson, clinical and bio-medical doctoral student. health in the psychology department at the University of Pittsburgh, in a statement.
Faubion added that because heart disease is the leading cause of death for women worldwide, doctors should start asking patients about their experiences with hot flashes as a risk factor for future disease.
“Women who may experience night sweats specifically may need to assess their cardiovascular risk in general,” he says.
As for what to do, the recommendations would be the same as for heart and brain health: better sleep, a proper diet, a regular exercise program, reducing stress, staying connected socially, and doing something that stimulates your brain.
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(dce)
2023-09-28 10:50:00
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