Bad hot flashes? Try dropping a few pounds

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -07162010-
In the study, women who participated in a program that encouraged them to exercise more and eat less improved their hot flashes more that a group with little weight-loss coaching.

"We're pretty excited to have this evidence that ... women who lose weight can improve their symptoms," study chief Dr. Alison Huang of the University of California, San Francisco, told Reuters Health.

At least 2 out of 3 women in the United States suffer from hot flashes at some point during menopause, and studies have shown that heavier women get more severe and more frequent hot flashes, Huang and colleagues note in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Huang and her colleagues followed a group of 338 overweight and obese women who were participating in a study for women with incontinence - which is not related to menopause symptoms, Huang said, and so shouldn't have affected the results.

Two-thirds of the women were put through a program that educated them on healthy weight-loss strategies. They were also given meal plans and coupons for Slim-Fast products and were told to record their daily exercise.

The other group went to a few educational sessions on weight loss and health

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38211843/ns/health/