DEFINING DEMOCRACY Government of the People. Democracy may be a word familiar to most, but it is a concept still misunderstood and misused in a time when totalitarian regimes and military dictatorships alike have attempted to claim popular support by pinning democratic labels upon themselves.
In most women who undergo natural menopause, hot flashes subside within 2 to 5 years after the last menstrual period. In a small number of women, however, hot flashes can continue for 8 to 15 years after the last menstrual period. There is some evidence that women who go through menopause due to surgery may have more severe hot flashes for more years than women who go through natural menopause.
In a 2006 study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, for instance, researchers found that taking black cohosh for four weeks failed to reduce hot flashes among breast cancer patients. While participants given a placebo reported a 27 percent decrease in hot flashes, those treated with black cohosh reported only a 20 percent decrease in hot flashes. Caveats. The safety of long-term use of black cohosh is uncertain, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).