<em>Study:</em> Women's Hot Flashes May Have Health Benefits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - According to a ten-year study of more than 60,000 women, there may actually be a health advantage to having those hot flashes, especially severe ones, during menopause.
According to researchers, the hot flashes may be protecting the women from heart disease, stroke, and even death -- potentially for years afterward.
The latest study found that women between the ages of 50 and 70 who had their worst hot flashes and night sweats around the time of menopause, had an 11 percent lower risk of having heart-related health problems and an 8 percent lower risk of dying from any cause over the study's ten-year followup.
And nowadays, more women than ever have to deal with hot flashes because of a landmark study several years ago that suggested the most commonly used treatment, hormone replacement therapy, may increase the risk of breast cancer and possibly heart disease.
Reported by KYW Newsradio medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough.
