hot flash
Meaning of hot flash: A hot flash is a sudden sensation of body warmth, flushing, and sweating, most familiar with menopause but also linked to certain medications and conditions.
Definition of hot flash
A hot flash is a sudden, temporary sensation of warmth that spreads over the body, often accompanied by visible flushing of the skin and sweating, and sometimes followed by chills once the sensation passes. Episodes can vary widely in frequency and intensity from one person to another.
Hot flashes are most commonly associated with the hormonal changes of menopause, when declining estrogen levels are thought to affect the body's temperature regulation. They can also occur as a side effect of certain medications, including some hormone-related treatments used in breast and prostate cancer, and can accompany other conditions that affect hormone levels.
Because hot flashes can result from several different underlying causes, their presence alongside other symptoms or a particular medication history often helps clarify the likely explanation in a given situation, even though the sensation itself is described in largely the same way regardless of its cause.
Used in a sentence
The patient reported frequent hot flashes that began after starting the hormone-related medication.
Good to know
A hot flash occurring during hormone-related cancer treatment reflects the same general mechanism as one occurring with menopause, since both are linked to a change in circulating hormone levels rather than being separate phenomena.