Treating Hot Flashes Due to Menopause with Chinese Medicine
on the face, chest or entire body. Symptoms often associated with hot flashes include sweating, palpitations, nausea, dizziness, anxiety, irritability, headaches, or shortness of breath. Some women experience a funny feeling just before the hot flash starts. The hot flash is often followed by a red face. Some- times a chill will come after- ward. The frequency and duration of hot flashes vary from seconds to hours. Often they are ex- perienced early in the morn- ing and late at night.
H
Why Do They Happen? Although hot flashes can be a result of medications, lifestyle and other fac- tors, they are frequently caused by the hormonal changes that occur during meno- pause. During menopause a woman’s body naturally begins to produce less estrogen. A lower level of estrogen affects the hypothala- mus, the part of the brain responsible for control- ling appetite, sleep cycles, sex hormones, and body temperature. It is unknown exactly how this change in estrogen affects the body's thermostat, but the result is that women feel abnormally hot.
According to Chinese Medicine... Menopause starts when a woman's body begins to tap into blood and Qi reserves from other parts of the body such as the ovaries, in order to direct more nourishment to the kidneys. In Chinese medicine, the kidneys are the root of life and Qi. There- fore, as a woman ages, more of her Qi is directed to the kidneys
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ot flashes, often associated with menopause, can feel like a sudden intense heat
in order to increase longevity. Hot flashes can be caused by a weakness in the kidneys' Qi. From a Chinese medical perspec-
tive, kidney Qi refers to the merid- ian, or river of energy, that flows
through the kidney organ. Weak kidney Qi does not necessarily mean that anything is wrong with the actual kidney organs. In Chi- nese Medicine, the kidneys have two major aspects: yin and yang. The yin aspect is responsible for nourishing, cooling, and moistening the body. A lack of yin can cause symptoms like thirst, night sweats, irritabil- ity and hot flashes. The kidneys also have a
Yang nature. Yang energy is responsible for keeping the body warm and providing the energy a woman needs to be active. Women with deficient yang, in addition to deficient yin,
may have symptoms such as feel- ing cold, depression, or fatigue. It is not unusual for women to have both
yin and yang deficiency.
What causes Kidney Deficiency? Kidney deficiency can have several causes, but the most
common reason in Western culture is overwork. Stress, fatigue, a poor diet, and working beyond one’s capacity can deplete the blood and kidney yin and/or yang. In addition, thirty to forty years of monthly periods can result in blood deficiency. Childbirth can further deplete a woman's yin and blood. All of this can negatively impact the strength of the kidney energy system and result in hot flashes.
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