AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 237, Issue 5 306-R310, Copyright © 1979 by American Physiological Society
Investigation of hot flashes by ambulatory monitoring
G. W. Molnar
The unpredictability of hot flashes makes their investigation difficult. A
method for continuous monitoring of subjective arousals and their objective
correlates is here described and illustrated with results from one subject.
Temperatures of special interest with respect to hot flashes--toe, cheek,
vagina, and air--were recorded on a protable magnetic tape during routine
living at home. The subject signaled the "on" and "off" of each perceived
flash with a hand switch and also entered information in a notebook. She
signaled 63 flashes on 5 days, during which the cheek and toe temperatures
showed transient increments. Some of the flashes were labeled uncertain in
the notebook. The subject also had 23 episodes of these temperature
increments that she did not identify by signals as flashes. In these
episodes, therefore, the mechanism of consciousness was not activated.
Perceptions that coincided with transient temperature increments thus
ranged as follows: subconscious, uncertain, definite but bearable, mildly
distressful, and strongly distressful. Hence ambulatory monitoring can
provide objective evidence of transient activation of the hypothalamic heat
loss mechanism, whether perceived or not.
