A new study suggests that hot flashes can help reduce the risks of two types of breast cancer
Many women despise hot flashes, and no one looks forward to having them as they go through menopause. The good news is that hot flashes can reduce the risks of breast cancer.
Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have done a study involving 1,437 post menopausal women. There were 988 of those woman that had been previously diagnosed with breast cancer and the other 449 became the control group as they had not been diagnosed with any type of breast cancer.
The women, aged 55 to 74, were asked all about the symptoms of menopause such as night sweats, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, irregular menstrual bleeding, anxiety, depression and insomnia.
The researchers found that those that had significant symptoms compared to those that never reported such symptoms cut their risk in half of having 2 types of breast cancer.
Researchers then focused on hot flashes and asked targeted questions, finding that those that had hot flashes so severe that they woke them in the middle of the night, had a lower risk of cancer. Especially compared to those that had less intense symptoms.
Since this is the first study to be done with symptoms and breast cancer risks among post menopausal women, the authors say that more studies need to be done to confirm the findings.
