Sweating attacks: Key symptom in menopausal transition only for women?

Objectives: Aging men are not as much aware of the fact as women that they, too, undergo some kind of menopausal transition and they notice the symptoms rarely. The key symptom of "hot flushes/sweating" is undisputed among women. The objective of this paper is to compare the frequency of episodes of sweating across gender and age groups. Methods: A sample of 500 German males and a control sample of 153 women were asked to report about the frequency of types/causes of "sweating" in the course of aging. Results: Overall, the various types of sweating do not show any differences in frequency between males and females. A precipitous rise in frequency can be found in the 6th decade of life for both sexes. This applies in particular to sudden, unexpected episodes of sweating or constriction/anxiety with or without sweaty skin that occur at night (less frequently during the day), i.e. occurring without any obvious physical or mental stress. This seems to be an important symptom for the changes occurring at an age of over 50 years for both sexes. Conclusion: Sensations of sweating occurring suddenly and unexpectedly, especially at night, but also during the day, seem to be similarly common and men and women. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.