{"id":53,"date":"2011-09-16T21:02:16","date_gmt":"2011-09-16T21:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hotflashpillow.com\/?page_id=53"},"modified":"2012-10-29T23:43:05","modified_gmt":"2012-10-29T18:43:05","slug":"the-science","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hotflashpillow.com\/?page_id=53","title":{"rendered":"The Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

Consider the science behind a hot flash:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Stellate Ganglion,\u00a0a star-shaped cluster of nerves in the neck, is connected to parts of the brain involved in core body temperature regulation, and the Stellate Ganglion sends signals to the brain\u2019s hypothalamus, the body\u2019s temperature control center.<\/p>\n

\"\" But, at times, the hypothalamus becomes confused when the body has a diminished level of estrogen in women, or a diminished level of testosterone in men.\u00a0 In its confused state, the hypothalamus tries to rid the body of heat by dilating blood vessels and opening sweat glands. The result is a hot flash<\/strong>.<\/span>. This abrupt and intense sensation of heat affects the face, neck and upper body, and results in a cold, clammy sweat and discomfort, and can greatly disrupt sleep. Hot flashes can occur frequently throughout the day and night and last anywhere between a couple minutes to an hour. The feeling can cause anxiety, a quickened heart rate, irritability and nausea.<\/p>\n

Hot flashes and night sweats are quite common among menopausal women, and certainly not uncommon among andropausal men. Often breast cancer survivors, who take anti-estrogen medication to fight their cancer, experience hot flashes and night sweats, as do 80% of men who take androgen deprivation therapy to fight prostate cancer.<\/p>\n

At this point, you may be wondering what role the Stellate Ganglion plays in all this hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia discussion…
\nA study of breast cancer survivors was conducted in which the Stellate Ganglion was directly injected with a Stellate Ganglion Blockade (SGB) to see if that might abate the hot flash\/night sweat problem.\u00a0 The\u00a0 Harvard Women\u2019s Health Watch<\/em> (Sept. 2008 issue) chronicled the study\u2019s successful outcome.\u00a0 \u201cIn breast cancer survivors the body\u2019s thermostat doesn\u2019t work,\u201d said Dr. Eugene Lipov, the study\u2019s author and medical director of Advanced Pain Centers in Hoffman Estates. \u201cNumbing up the Stellate resets the body\u2019s thermostat and makes it work like it\u2019s supposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consider the\u00a0 science behind insomnia:<\/strong>
\nScientific American’s article “Putting Insomnia on Ice” (December 23, 2011) and TIME Healthland’s article “Tip for Insomniacs: Cool Your Head to Fall Asleep” (June 17, 2011) both point to the neurobiology of insomnia, a disorder of hyper-arousal. An insomnia study was conducted in 2011, in which participants were fitted with cooling caps that used circulating water to cool their prefrontal cortexes. The study determined that cooling the head helped the insomniacs to fall asleep about as fast, and to stay asleep about as long, as those participants without insomnia. And the participants whose caps were set to the lowest temperatures were able to get more sleep than those whose caps were slightly warmer.<\/p>\n

In June 2011, at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine reported their findings. The body’s circadian clock, which regulates sleep and wakefulness, keeps the body at its warmest during the day and starts to lower body temperature in the evening to help us doze off. But for those with insomnia, researchers found that the extra brain activity was keeping the brain too hot to sleep. It appears that cooling the brain is one of the simplest, safest, most effective means to help people with insomnia catch more z’s!<\/p>\n

Building on that science we\u2019ve created the Hot Flash Pillow<\/strong>
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