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 Women who hadn't smoked for at least five years were 45 percent less
likely to have severe or frequent hot flashes than current smokers,
researchers found. But they were still more likely to have symptoms
than women who had never smoked.
“While the effect was strongest if women quit at least five years
before the onset of menopause, even women quitting later did have a
better outcome than women who continued to smoke,” lead author
Rebecca Smith, a researcher in epidemiology at the University of
Illinois, said by email. “I hope that this encourages women to quit
smoking, the earlier the better.”
Smoking is the leading cause of avoidable deaths in the U.S.,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking
dramatically increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and lung
cancer. It may also contribute to cancers almost anywhere in the
body, according to the CDC.
Women go through menopause when they stop menstruating, typically
between ages 45 and 55. As the ovaries curb production of the
hormones estrogen and progesterone, women can experience symptoms
such as vaginal dryness, mood swings, insomnia, and hot flashes and
night sweats.
Because previous research has consistently linked smoking to worse
hot flashes, Smith and colleagues wanted to see if this connection
also held true for women who had quit.
As reported in the journal Maturitas, they studied 761 women ages 45
to 54, following them for up to seven years.
At the start of the study, 347 women were experiencing hot flashes.
Only 39 percent of never-smokers had hot flashes, compared with 52
percent of ex-smokers and 62 percent of current smokers.
About 47 percent of current smokers had moderate or severe hot
flashes; this group was also most likely to have symptoms daily or
weekly.
By contrast, moderate or severe hot flashes afflicted 36 percent of
ex-smokers and 22 percent of never-smokers - and only about 10
percent of these women suffered hot flashes on a daily or weekly
basis.
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Compared with current smokers, women who quit were 37 percent less
likely to have hot flashes and 22 percent less likely to have
frequent or severe symptoms.
Compared to women who had never smoked, the current smokers were
four times more likely to have hot flashes.
The study cannot prove that smoking causes or worsens hot flashes,
the authors acknowledge.
But, they note, their results are in line with past studies, and
they speculate that smoking may interfere with hormones,
neurotransmitters and other mechanisms that are also linked to hot
flashes.
Quitting at least five years before menopause was linked to a 14
percent reduction in the severity of hot flashes and a 19 percent
reduction in their frequency, compared to quitting more recently.
“It is never too late to quit, and quitting may reduce other health
risks that are even more serious than the hot flashes,” Ellen
Freeman, a researcher in obstetrics and gynecology at the University
of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, said by email. Quitting can also
lower women’s risk for cardiovascular disease and cancers, she said.
“To my knowledge, this is the first study to show that stopping
smoking in mid-life can reduce hot flashes,” added Freeman, who
wasn’t involved in the study.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1RRHTcU Maturitas, online June 22, 2015.
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