Dr. Oz: Some American Women Have Hot Flashes For Up to 14 Years

Dr. Oz: Hot Flashes

Dr. Oz said that the media is burning up with reactions to the news that hot flashes can last up to 14 years during menopause. Dr. Oz said that we used to think menopausal women suffered hot flashes for at most a few years. But this new study says that’s not the case. African-Americans and Hispanics suffer the most from these hot flashes.

Dr. Oz’s team told people on the street about the new research that their hot flashes could last up to 14 years. The women freaked out. One woman said she wakes up in the morning drenched soaking wet from her hot flashes. Another woman just said, “14 years? Uh, no thank you. I’ve done my time.”

Dr. Oz: New Study on Hot Flashes

OB/GYN Dr. Lauren Streicher said this is the largest study on hot flashes, studying 1,500 women across demographics. It not only taught us how long hot flashes last or who is most affected, but it also taught us that if you start menopause younger, you’re likely to suffer more.

Dr. Oz: Some Women Have Worse Hot Flashes Than Others

Dr. Streicher said it’s not clear why African American women and Hispanic women are more affected than white women or Asian women. She said it could be genetic or it could be dietary. Asian women were the least affected and the diet in Asia is much different than that of Latin America and Spain.

“But I kind of don’t buy that because this study was done in the U.S. and everyone’s kind of eating everything at this point,” she said.

She said her African-American patients are also eating healthy and working out and still experiencing hot flashes, even though African-American women are the most affected. She said one of her patients was a marathon runner and weighed 110 pounds and still had up to 50 flashes per day. Dr. Streicher said she believed genetics trumped diet in this scenario.

Dr. Streicher said that other generations all had hot flashes, but time is different now. The average age of menopause is still 51, but we’re living longer than previous generations, well into our 80s.

“Our great-grandmothers, if they did live that long, they weren’t doctors, they weren’t lawyers, they weren’t TV producers. When they were in their 60s, they were sitting at home baking cookies. We have women that need to function and it is not appropriate to tell these women who cannot get a decent night’s sleep that they should do some yoga and dress in layers,” she said.

Dr. Oz: Hot Flashes Triggers & Treatment

There are also triggers for menopause like obesity and certain foods like alcohol and caffeine. She said women need to know hot flashes may very well last more than 3 to 4 years and that they have options and there are solutions out there. They just need to seek out help.