The good news on hot flushes!

Good news indeed! There has been some additional evidence that women that experience the most flushing during menopause also experience lower rates of breast cancer. There has been some thought that the flushes trick the body's immune sysytem into a "seek and destroy" mode, enabling it to eradicate pre-cancerous cells before they become a problem. Wouldn't it be a shame that in an attempt to alleviate symptoms that are seen in some cultures as a perfectly normal part of aging by using hormones that suppress the flushes, that we are actually contributing to the incidence of cancers. We know that women on HRT experience higher rates of some cancers- maybe this explains why.

Incidently, in Chinese culture the menopause is known as the "Second Spring", a time for renewal and growth.

Well, I'm done with this 'Second Spring' lark - give me the chill of winter any day. I've been flushing on a daily basis since August 10th 2000 - I remember it well as it was my 45th birthday, and by midnight I was on my 2nd nightie of the night and had two fans directed at me on the bed!!! Also, the research that features on the right hand side of this page 'Hot flashes reduce breast cancer risk' - I had breast cancer in 2001. My mother, her two sisters and their mother also had breast cancer during menopause.

Jabba, I'm sorry to hear that you've had a rough time. In Chinese medical terms the heat experienced could be considered as a Yang excess, as the Yin aspects which cool the body have become diminished over time. Women are more susceptable than men, as they are Yin by nature, and the monthly blood loss prior to menopause also can deplete Yin. Other Yin depleting mechanisms involve long term states of overwork, worry and stress, and a diet that includes coffee, alcohol and "hot" foods, and cigarettes which dry the lungs.

Women in China have culturally inherited a body-view that is linked to an inner wisdom that seems to have been lost to the West. During the Second Spring they would automatically start to include different foods and herbs into the diet to nourish Blood and Yin that can help with the flushes. The beancurd thing is a misnomer, as it's only recently been added to the diet as a way of utilising left over soya beans that were a by-product of a green fertiliser. A friend that recently started flushing had enourmous benefit from adding certain seeds to her diet, these being particularly Yin.

Acupuncture, coupled with dietary changes, has been known to help with flushes and dryness, and it can also help with the disturbed sleep and mad dreams that are associated too. It's not a "one treatement" process, but it can help to reduce the reliance on artificial hormones that have certainly been linked to other cancers.

Hi there

I've just been asked by a client of mine what the best remedies are for hot flushes. I always recommend Bowen Therapy as it helps rebalance the body and hormone levels. however some say the flushes are due to diminished levels of oestrogen so I also recommend a good quality royal jelly, such as Forever Living, as this contains natural oestrogen. The Forever Living product is freeze dried and retains more goodness than some of the cheaper varieties.