Working out best for menopausal women

Hot flashes are the most common health concern associated with menopause in women. It has been reported that around 80% of women experience hot flashes during their transition into the menopausal women and this condition in 50% women lasts for a year or two after undergoing menopause. But, in around 20% - 50% cases it is found to persist for many years but the intensity of the condition goes on reducing as one ages. But, do remember that not every woman undergoing menopause will experience this condition.rnHot flashes are generally characterized by a sensation of warmth all over the body, which is felt strongly in the areas of the neck and head. The main cause of acquiring hot flashes is attributed to composite hormonal changes, which essentially include alleviation of the blood estrogen levels that occur as a result of aging. And, this in turn results in alterations in the thermoregulatory mechanism that controls as well as maintains the normal body temperature, which causes the heat feeling in the body.rnThere exist many clinical measures for treatment of hot flashes but prevention of hot flashes is best done with the aid of dietary modifications that include avoiding foods that are found to trigger increase in body temperature. But, exercise has been found to be the most effective and recently proved approach for treatment of hot flashes in menopausal women.rnScientific insights into exercise and hot flashesrnA recent and significant clinical investigation showed that exercising menopausal women experienced a reduction in hot flashes within 24 hours of carrying out a moderate physical activity. It has been proved recently the women with sedentary and inactive lifestyle or those who are either overweight or obese are at an increased risk of experiencing hot flashes during their menopausal phase.rnThe research that was carried out for 15 days included around 92 menopausal women experiencing mild or moderate severity of symptoms. All the women took for the study were within 40 – 50 years of age and none of them underwent hormone therapy. The study group was divided into normal weight and overweight categories and it was observed that women on an average experienced lesser symptoms of hot flashes on exercising.rnWhereas, only a small reduction in hot flashes symptoms was observed in overweight and low physical fitness women. The results proved that exercise helps in the reduction of hot flashes in menopausal women, which was claimed the other way round till date. Also, further studies in this regard have been considered which will take exercise as well as a dietary approach into account.