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Guilherme Mazui

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What is the Difference Between Hot Flashes and Night Sweats?

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Hot flashes and night sweats are both symptoms associated with menopause and hormonal changes, but they differ in their characteristics and effects on an individual.

Hot flashes:

  • Sudden feeling of warmth in the upper body, often followed by sweating.
  • Occur during the day, and may involve sweating.
  • Can be accompanied by a pounding or fluttering heartbeat, headache, weakness, fatigue, and anxiety.
  • Can be triggered by environmental factors such as warm environments, warm clothing, or warm bedding.
  • May last a minute or two, or as long as 5 minutes.

Night sweats:

  • Occur when hot flashes happen at night, causing intense sweating.
  • Start gradually, last much longer, and then decline slowly.
  • More stressful than hot flashes, as they can cause long-term sleep disruptions if they wake the individual from sleep.
  • Can be associated with more stress and depression compared to hot flashes.

In summary, hot flashes are sudden feelings of warmth with sweating, while night sweats involve more intense sweating during nighttime. Night sweats are considered more stressful due to their impact on sleep and potential link to higher stress and depression levels.

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  • What is the Difference Between Hot Flashes and Night Sweats?
  • Comparative Table: Hot Flashes vs Night Sweats

    • Comparative Table: Hot Flashes vs Night Sweats

    Here is a table comparing hot flashes and night sweats:

    Feature Hot Flashes Night Sweats
    Definition A sudden onset of intense heat in the trunk area, followed by sweating and sometimes a sense of being cold afterward. Intense sweating during sleep, often causing discomfort and disruption to sleep.
    Occurrence Can happen anytime, day or night. Occur during sleep.
    Sweating Don't necessarily make you sweat. Characterized by intense sweating.
    Experience Can be very intense and disruptive, affecting daily functioning and causing anxiety. Can be very disruptive, waking you up and causing you to need to change night clothes or sheets.
    Duration Hot flashes and other vasomotor symptoms can last for about four to seven years.
    Causes Believed to be related to hormonal variations affecting the brain's temperature center.
    Treatment Adopting measures such as herbal, dietary, and emotional support, along with regular exercise and practices that calm the nervous system can help alleviate discomfort.

    Both hot flashes and night sweats are vasomotor symptoms of menopause, and up to 80% of women experience them. Although they share some similarities, there are distinct differences between the two, particularly in the aspect of sweating and the time of occurrence.

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    Guilherme Mazui

    Guilherme Mazui is graduated in journalism from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and a master's degree in Communication from the University of São Paulo (USP). In addition, he has experience in advertising writing and has worked as a content editor in several companies.