As if hot flashes weren’t a serious enough problem for women going through menopause, a new study suggests that, especially when they occur during sleep, hot flashes may be early indicators of an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. And the more often they occur, the higher the risk of developing dementia, News.ro reports.

The results of the study “Vasomotor Symptoms of Menopause and Plasma Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease” were presented at the annual meeting (2023) of the North American Menopause Society, which takes place from September 27 to 30 in Philadelphia.

Nearly two-thirds of the more than five million Americans living with the most common form of dementia are women.

The reasons for this gender discrepancy are still unknown, but there are a number of theories as to why it occurs, many of which focus on the drop in estrogen that occurs during the transition to menopause.

Previous research has linked one of the most common symptoms of menopause, hot flashes, to poor memory and changes in brain structure, function and connections, but it is not known whether hot flashes may be linked to Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers.

Recent advances in dementia research include the development of blood biomarkers that have proven particularly useful in assessing risk decades before the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia.

These biomarkers were used in a new study involving nearly 250 middle-aged women.

The aim of the study was to determine whether objectively assessed hot flushes are associated with adverse biomarker profiles for Alzheimer’s dementia.

Dr. Rebecca Thurston, director of the Division of Women’s Biobehavioral Health in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, and Dr. Pauline Mackey, professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago, led the study.

Based on the results of the study, the team concluded that hot flushes during sleep may be a marker of the risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia in women.

Moreover, a greater number of hot flushes during sleep was associated with an increased likelihood of the disease.

These results remained significant even after additional adjustments for estradiol and sleep characteristics assessed using actigraphy, a noninvasive method of monitoring periods of activity and rest for at least one week. A device called an actigraph, which has the shape of a watch, is worn on the wrist of one hand.

Tides were objectively measured using ambulatory skin conductance monitoring.

“Given the negative impact Alzheimer’s has on quality of life and financial burden, it’s important to learn as much as possible about potential causes and warning signs so we can be proactive before the disease strikes,” adds Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the Menopause Society.

Among other things, the study results suggest that women who experience frequent hot flushes, especially during sleep, may need to try to reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s dementia, said the study’s second author, Dr. Thurston. (News.ro)