When you ask women which symptoms they associate most with menopause, most of them say “Hot flushes”. They have become the hallmark of menopause and the go-to symptom that women expect to happen. A hot flush is different for everyone with some not even experiencing them. Some are full body flushes with the heat rising from the toes upwards; for some they’re fleeting; others experience them every few hours. And while they’re not dangerous they are bloody uncomfortable and for some, downright intolerable. So what’s going on in your body when this happens? Your hypothalamus is the part of your brain responsible for regulating body temperature (along with appetite, sleep cycles and hormones). When it detects hormonal shifts it glitches and goes on alert, thinking that you're overheating. This causes a response designed to cool the body down. More blood goes to the skin (hence the flush) and sweat glands start working (the menopausal sweat). There’s no guarantee that once you’ve gone t...