20 Dec Hot Flashes Linked With Increased Risk of Hip Fracture
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Carolyn J. Crandall, MD, MS
Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine
UCLA Medicine/GIM
Los Angeles, California 90024
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Crandall: In a large group of postmenopausal women aged 50-79, we found that women who reporting having hot flashes at baseline had increased risk of hip fracture during the subsequent 8 years of observation, nearly double the risk compared with women who did not have hot flashes at baseline.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Crandall: Because hot flashes are experienced by at least 60% of women, links between them and increased fracture risk certainly deserve further study. In the meantime, women with hot flashes may want to pay particular attention to healthy lifestyle habits to maintain bone health, such as avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol intake, optimizing their calcium and vitamin D intake, getting adequate physical activity, and making sure they adhere to the guidelines for osteoporosis screening (U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines).
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Crandall: Clearly, in order to develop preventive interventions for at-risk women, we will have to first understand the biological reasons for these links. Since this was the first large U.S. study to ever address this question, we have much work ahead of us.
Citation:
Last Updated on December 20, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD