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Article: Flushing out the mechanism of hot flashes.
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- October 13, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Flushing out the mechanism of hot flashes
Hot flashes plague many women undergoing menopause, sometimes striking as often as once an hour and leaving the women soaked in sweat. Though scientists know very little about what causes these unpleasant internal heat waves, a new study strengthens the case implicating certain neurons within the brain's temperature-regulating center.
Researchers have suspected that the body thermostat of women who suffer from hot flashes somehow goes awry once the ovaries cease making the female sex hormone estrogen. They reason that a loss of estrogen might somehow cause certain neurons in the temperature-regulating hypothalamus ...