Abstract
We sought to examine the relationship between BMI, sweat rate (SR) and sweat volume (SV) in pre-, peri- and postmenopausal women during a moderate exercise. Based on their ages and menstrual cycle history, thirty healthy women were divided into three groups: pre- (22.5 ± 0.8 yrs, n = 10), peri- (46.5 ± 1.1 yrs, n = 10) and post- (52.2 ± 0.9 yrs, n = 10). Participants underwent a 15- minute walk on a treadmill at a constant speed of 4.2 km/h at 27°C. Sweat was collected and measured with a suction apparatus around a confined area of 120 cm2 outlined on the skin of the face and neck of the participants during the exercise. SR and BMI were determined using the formulae: and , respectively. The older women had a significantly higher BMI: pre-, peri- and post- (23.7 ± 1.3 kg/m2 vs 28.0 ± 1.2 kg/m2 vs 28.4 ± 0.7) (p there was no significant difference in SV (1.3 ± 0.4 ml vs 1.7 ± 0.2 ml vs 0.9 ± 0.1 ml) between the groups, the peri-women showed a significantly higher SR (0.07 ± 0.02 ml/min vs 0.12 ± 0.01 ml/min vs 0.06 ± 0.01 ml/min) (p (p ndings support the conclusions that increased menopausal sweating is associated with weight gain/increased BMI especially during the perimenopausal transition period.
Highlights
Menopause refers to the complete stoppage of menstruation of ≥12 months after the final menstrual cycle
The most common ones are the vasomotor symptoms (VMS) i.e. hot flushes and night sweats [9]-[11] and these are the symptoms for which women seek treatment most often during menopause [12]
sweat rate (SR) and sweat volume (SV) are interdependent, a perfect correlation between both.These data show that there is a concomitant increase in SR and SV with an increase in body mass index (BMI) with other confounding factors closely regulated
Summary
Menopause refers to the complete stoppage of menstruation of ≥12 months after the final menstrual cycle. It is associated with a variety of symptoms including: hot flushes, night sweats, weight gain, vaginal dryness, sexual dysfunction, decreased libido and sleep disturbance [2]-[5]. Up to 80% of women experience the classic menopausal VMS [13], and even higher in perimenopausal women [14]-[16] These symptoms which are capable of disrupting a woman’s overall quality of life [17] [18], have been linked to several risk factors such as age, race/ethnicity, education and social class, alcohol use, low estrogen levels, menopausal status, use of hormone replacement therapy, chronic disease status, perceived stress, poor consumption of dairy products, physical activity and BMI [19]-[25]
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