Most of the 40% of menstruating women who get hot flashes will have mild to moderate hot flashes. The unlucky 10% to 15% of women who experience severe hot flashes will definitely want to seek help from medical professionals.

Women who have already experienced breast cancer are more prone to having severe hot flashes.

Women who transition faster through peri-menopause than their peers will also experience more severe hot flashes.

Women who have had surgical menopause or who have undergone chemotherapy-induced medical menopause will also be more likely to experience severe hot flashes.

Women who have not been warned about what to expect beforehand and are caught unawares by a sudden hot flash can be frightened by its intensity and may even confuse the episode with that of having a heart attack.

Women who are overweight may experience milder hot flashes than women who are thin. Finally benefits to not looking like a model!

Watch out female smokers, as your blood vessels may not have the same ability to radiate heat as a non-smoking woman and therefore women who smoke are more prone to severe hot flashes.

Women who do experience intense and severe hot flashes have an alternative to putting hormones into their body and running the risk of cancer or heart conditions. The alternative women with hot flashes have is to turn to natural progesterone products.

Other sites that may interest you

Menopause - University of Maryland Medical Center
Menopause - PubMed Health
Male Menopause?