Here’s the biological wiring that switches on the sudden sweats.
Here's The Breakdown of Your Hot Flashes
#1
Portions of the brain, which control body temperature, react to dips in the blood level of hormones.
#2
The brain's insular cortex, which controls perceptions of heat, cold, pain and pleasure, turns on.
#3
About 20 minutes before a full blown hot flash, your core body temperature begins to rise.
#4
About 10 minutes before a flash, skin temperature rises. Vessels dilate and blood flow increases to prepare the body to get rid of the extra heat.
#5
An aura--dizziness, a racing heart and a sense of anxiety or unease--may also precede a flash.
#6
You feel hot, sometimes intensely, mostly on the upper third of your body.
#7
Sweat glands prepare to start pumping out perspiration.
#8
Blood rushes to skin across your chest, neck and face, causing flushing.
#9
You begin to sweat, mostly on the upper part of your body.
#10
Peripheral blood vessels, in your arms, torso, legs and face, fully dilate, and heat shoots out.
#11
Total time of thermal chaos: under five minutes. Flashes are most common in the morning and evening, according to researcher Robert Freeman of Wayne State University.
Originally published in More magazine, December 2005 / January 2006.
