Hot flashes and night sweats are characterized as an overwhelming sensation and rise of body heat, mainly affecting the upper region of the body (chest, neck, face, and head). Hot flashes, also known as “hot flushes”, may cause these areas to turn red. The hypothalamus, the area of the brain that controls body temperature, sleep, appetite and sex hormones, will react by sending out messages to the body telling it to cool down, much like a thermostat. Hot flashes and night sweats are common, and very uncomfortable, for many people and can be instigated by a number of factors.

The exact cause of hot flashes and night sweats is medically unknown, but there are many external and internal factors that are believed to contribute to the sudden phenomenon. When the hormones become unstable and decrease this causes dilatation of the skin blood vessels occur, causing the raise in temperature. Menopause, the experience of the female body producing fewer amounts of estrogen and progesterone causing a permanent stop in egg production and menstruation, is the most common reason for hot flashes and night sweats. For those of you who are younger and not menopausal, do not think you are in the clear. Many other causes of hot flashes can be observed in the following:

• Medication – such as anti depressants.
• Idiopathic hyperhidrosis – a condition in which the body chronically produces too much sweat without any identifiable medical cause.
• Infections – TB (being the most common), abscesses, and bacterial infections i.e.: aids virus (HIV), cancer.
• Complications with inflammation of the heart valves and/or the bones (called endocarditis and osteomyelitis, respectively).
• Changes in hormones that are unrelated to the onset of menopause.
• Anxiety and stress.

Both males and females can experience hot flashes and night sweats. Surprisingly, males may get these because of their own menopausal stage, known as andropause. Menopause is associated with a reduction in estrogen where as andropause is associated with reduction in testosterone and DHEA – a steroid hormone produced from cholesterol by the adrenal glands, the elongated word for DHEA is dehydroepiandrosterone. Similar factors to menopause bring about the onset of andropause:

• TB
• HIV (AIDS)
• Arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
• Diabetes (Type I or Type II) or Hypoglycemia
• Infections
• Fibromyalgia
• Thyroiditis or Hyperthyroidism
• Cancer – accompanied with rapid weight loss and high fever, Lymphoma being the most common.
• High cholesterol.
• Stroke.
• Endocarditis and osteomyelitis.
• Anxiety and stress.
• Medications – such as anti depressants, Viagra.

When hot flashes and night sweats occur during the night, while sleeping, a simple hand swipe over the brow is useless. Night sweats are known to be very heavy and described not so much as sweating, but more appropriately as “soaking”. Sleeping under a lot of covers or being in a warm room will cause you to sweat as well, but these are not considered to be a result of hot flashes and night sweats. Palpitation of the heart, red skin coloring, and the feeling of “getting the chills” are a few of the more conspicuous symptoms associated with night sweats as well as hot flashes (or “hot flushes”).

In order to distinguish between night sweats and normal, occasional sweating you should understand that night sweats produce a severe amount of sweat, drenching right through clothing, blankets, pillows; your hair may feel like you just went for a 3 mile run in the rain; and sometimes the sweat can be pouring out to the point where you might have to change the sheets when you wake up in the middle of the night, some even feel the need to shower. While hot flashes and night sweats may seem harmless to some people, these may be early signs of a serious problem. Keeping yourself educated is the first step to keeping healthy. Do not let yourself learn the hard way that, sometimes, ignorance is far from bliss.