Wrist cooling could help managing hot flash study finds

A cooling wristband device was found to reduce severe hot flash episodes by 46 per cent in breast cancer patients, prostate cancer patients and postmenopausal women, new research has shown.

The device reduced severe episodes by 41 per cent in breast cancer patients and 50 per cent in prostate cancer patients and postmenopausal women.

It also lowered daily hot flash frequency by 18 per cent.

Hot flashes – sudden, temporary sensations of body warmth, often with flushing and sweating during the day and night (night sweats) – are classed as vasomotor symptoms (VMS).]

These affect up to 80 per cent of perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, 80 per cent of ageing men receiving androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer, and between 50 and 80 per cent of breast cancer patients on hormone therapy.

The randomised, double-blind study at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine involved 27 participants who experienced at least two moderate-to-severe hot flashes daily.

The group included 10 breast cancer patients, 12 prostate cancer patients and five postmenopausal women.

After two weeks of baseline recordings, participants used either the active cooling device or a non-cooling wristband for two weeks, then crossed over to the alternative device for an additional two weeks.

Hot flash frequency and severity were logged in diaries throughout.

Michael F. Holick, professor of medicine, pharmacology, physiology and biophysics at the school, said current treatments are limited.

Holick said: “Most non-hormonal pharmaceutical options for managing hot flashes are limited by significant side effects and hormone replacement therapy is not appropriate for breast and prostate cancer patients who were on, or who have been treated with, hormone deprivation therapy.

“This creates an urgent need for safe, effective, non-pharmaceutical interventions suitable for diverse patient populations experiencing debilitating VMS.”

VMS include hot flashes and night sweats, and are linked to sleep problems, cognitive difficulties, fatigue, increased pain and lower quality of life.

Holick said the wrist’s neurological sensitivity makes it an effective site for targeted cooling.

The device was developed using approaches applied in conditions such as motion sickness, Parkinson’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome and hand tremors.

He believes the cooling device signals the hypothalamus – the part of the brain that regulates body temperature – by triggering cooling neuron pathways.

This makes the body think it is cooling rapidly, shutting down the overheating signals that cause blood vessel dilation and sweating.

Holick noted that hot flashes affect more than comfort, influencing quality of life, decisions about cancer treatment and adding to wider economic and social costs.