Core body temperature and circadian rhythm of hot flashes in menopausal women
RR Freedman, D Norton, S Woodward and G Cornelissen
Department of Psychiatry, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48201, USA.
Postmenopausal hot flashes are characterized by sweating and peripheral
vasodilation and occur more frequently during increased heat loads. The
circadian rhythm of core body temperature (TC) is well known and suggests
that hot flashes will be most frequent when core temperature is highest.
This hypothesis has not been tested previously. Ten symptomatic and six
asymptomatic postmenopausal women were recruited from advertisements and
screened. Each received 24-h ambulatory monitoring of sternal skin
conductance levels to detect hot flashes, ambient temperature, skin
temperature, and TC. The last measure was recorded using an ingested
radiotelemetry pill. Cosinor analysis demonstrated a circadian rhythm (P
< 0.02) of hot flashes with a peak at about 1825 h. TC values of the
symptomatic women were lower than those of the asymptomatic women (P <
.05) from 0000-0400 h and at 1500 and 2200 h. The majority of hot flashes
were preceded by elevations in TC. Thus, elevated TC may serve as one
trigger of menopausal hot flashes.
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