Vasomotor symptoms (VMSs) are the most common symptoms affecting women during the menopause. Besides, affective symptoms may share with VMS a common biological pathophysiology. The current multicenter quantitative research was based on an online survey aimed to evaluate the impact of VMS in peri- and post-menopausal Italian women and to identify the main barriers to seeking help. The most frequent bothersome VMSs were hot flashes (41%), night sweats (31%), and over-heating (31%). Almost 87% of women experienced three or more simultaneous symptoms. Emotions verbalized by women indicate how intensely hot flushes and neuro-vegetative symptoms impact life: embarrassment, confusion, depression, impact on social/personal relationships, and guiltiness. Up to 43% of all women suffering from VMS were not treating the symptoms. Although 92% of women reported prior knowledge of the VMS condition, only 12% do something about it straight away after the appearance of VMS. This survey provided real-life observational data from a large population of peri-menopausal women and highlighted the important impact of VMS, its neurovegetative comorbidities and its significant burden effect on social life. Physicians must be more adaptive and inquisitive to evaluate and detect incipient VMS, as this will indicate the vulnerability to severe symptomatology and pathological brain aging.
Keywords: Vasomotor symptoms; brain aging; menopause; neurovegetative symptoms-hot flashes; over-heating; quantitative survey; sexual relations; sweats.