Dr Steven R. Goldstein MD is a top Menopause Specialist in NYC. He is a recent past President of the International Menopause Society and a Certified Menopause Practitioner in private practice for over 25 years.
Hot flashes are one well known result of the loss of estrogen, which occurs when a woman reaches menopause. They fall under the category doctors call “vasomotor instability”. When your supply of estrogen dwindles, the hypothalmus, the “temperature regulation control station” in the brain goes awry. It sends a message to the pituitary gland to send out a hormone to stimulate the ovaries to produce more estrogen. This hormone is known as the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). When the ovaries do not respond because of menopause, the hypothalmus can sometimes release a stimulant called free epinephrine. This spills over into the heat regulating area and the result is increased circulation, dilated blood vessels – a hot flash. Blood rushes to the skin. You flush. The sensation can quickly travel through your whole body.
Dr Goldstein, a leading Menopause Specialist in NYC , says these flashes or flushes may last from thirty seconds to thirty minutes. Some women have only a few episodes a year, but there are women who have them daily, and often. There are women who have suffered with twenty or more such flashes a day.
Hot flashes, while uncomfortable, are not medically dangerous to you. And they are not forever. In about two thirds of women, hot flashes last from one to five years. About one quarter of women will experience hot flashes for up to ten years. Fewer than ten percent of them will experience them for more than ten years.
Women who have a surgical menopause (surgical removal of the ovaries) often suffer the most from frequent hot flashes. This is probably because the drop in estrogen levels in these women is so abrupt and complete. However, hot flashes and night sweats may lead to irritability, insomnia, fatigue, and mood swings.
Dr Steven R. Goldstein, co author of the book “The Estrogen Alternative” is a top hormone specialist in NYC. Dr Goldstein has helped thousands of women cope with hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause with the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). If you are a woman going through menopause and experiencing hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause then schedule an appointment with Dr Steven R. Goldstein, a top menopause specialist in NYC.
