The Association between Mid-Sleep Waking Episodes and Hot Flushes in Post-Menopausal Women

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Abstract
Nine post-menopausal women were studied for 2 consecutive nights in a sleep laboratory in order to investigate the possible relationship between hot flushes and sleep disturbance. The sleep structure in this group was not substantially different from that expected in this age group. All of the patients experienced mid-sleep waking episodes and hot flushes, with an average of 4.5 for the former and 2 for the latter. Only half of the waking episodes were found to be associated with hot flush. Even when the two were associated, in the majority of the cases the waking episode preceded the temperature rise. It is thus concluded that there is more than one mechanism responsible for mid-sleep awakenings in post-menopausal women, that the discomfort caused by the hot flush is certainly not an important etiologic factor in these disturbances, and that a common central disturbance is probably responsible for both events in most instances.

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