Will this be another hot, sweaty January?

January is a month when "hot" typically is not in one's vocabulary--unless you are one of the approximately 37,500,000 American women experiencing hot flashes and night sweats. According to MenopauseRx, a national support group, requests over the last few years for its free Menopause and Perimenopause Survival Kits increased about 25% between December and January.

"Menopause, like pregnancy, is a time for women to take stock of their lives. January is when feeling better becomes a New Year's resolution," explains Mary Jane Minkin, a professor in the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., and author of A Woman's Guide to Menopause & Perimenopause.

"It's time for a fresh start, a new beginning. Women are typically too busy to do anything for themselves over the holidays, when they're usually extra stressed out, but when the New Year comes, they say, 'Okay, now it's time to work on feeling better.'"

A similar phenomenon occurs in September when vacations are over and kids go back to school, Minkin points out. "Then women can focus on themselves and get help if they need it."

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COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning