Hot Flashes in Adolescence and Young Adult Females: a Link to Vitamin D and Calcium

BACKGROUND: Menopause is a stage in life when a woman stops having menstruation and the ovaries produce less estrogen. Hot flashes (HFs) are the classical symptoms for menopausal transition and cessation of menses. Increased anxiety had been reported as a significant risk factor of HFs. Vitamin D deficiency and low daily dietary calcium intake may be associated with the occurrence of hot flashes (HFs) in adolescents and young females that are not related to hormonal changes of menopausal transition. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to validate this hypothesis. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted. Thirty-eight females (38) with HFs aged 18-40 years, and 38 age-matched healthy controls with no HFs were involved. Participants answered questions about HFs symptoms. Psychological symptoms were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Serum vitamin D, Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Estradiol, and Prolactin were measured. RESULTS: Vitamin D deficiency, psychological symptoms, and Musculoskeletal pain (MSP) were more prevalent in cases versus controls. About 73.68% of females had HFs on a daily basis, 73.7% of them reported that their HFs associated with excessive sweating. Spearman correlation revealed that number of daily HFs were correlated positively and significantly with anxiety scores (r(2)= -0.278, p=0.045), and average MSP pain (r(2)=-0.536, p=<0.001). Binary logistic regression showed that, Anxiety score and vitamin D status, (OR=1.33(1.104-1.7), p=0.02, and OR=0.89(0.79-0.99, p=0.03) respectively were the predictors for HFs. CONCLUSION: This study showed that adolescents and young females may experience HFs that are not related to hormonal changes of menopausal transition. The predictors for HFs were vitamin D deficiency and anxiety.