The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) will soon be publishing a study which discovered that women who were 60 and above would have fewer hot flashes if they were heavier, relative to their leaner counterparts. This connection between hot flashes and body size was apparent only in older women.
Research done on perimenopausal women in the last ten years has revealed that women who are heavier to have a greater number of hot flashes. This led to further research to observe the effects of obesity on hot flashes. But the results of the new study reveal a whole new paradigm, that when a woman reaches menopause and her ovaries stop producing estrogen, she will experience fewer hot flashes the heavier she is.
Rebecca Thurston, PhD of the University of Pittsburgh and the lead author of the study says that the study has helped them understand how body size can affect hot flashes, and the important role played by the age of the subject. According to Thurston, the study reveals that that the higher fat levels are only beneficial in curbing hot flashes after a woman has turned 60.
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