WOMEN’S HEALTH (PMS and hot flashes)   Hot flashes are among the symptoms of menopause.  In the US, about 85% of women experience hot flashes and 40% of them consider this ailment severe enough to commit to estrogen replacement therapy.  However, Asian women are luckier.  This fact is usually explained by the difference in traditional diets, which are higher in soy products in Oriental cuisine. Thus, it is currently advised to include tofu, miso, soymilk, etc., in middle age women's everyday ration.  There is also data on favorable effects of plant analogs of estrogen found in herbs like Licorice, Wild Yams, Angelica, Blue Cohosh, etc.      Clinical research has shown that during a hot flash attack the concentration of endorphins in the blood is significantly decreased.    This is why we offered the method of self-help Reflexo-therapy to several hot flashes sufferers and got very promising results.  There is direct scientific evidence that endorphins can control hot flashes through the inhibition of the female hormone Luteotropin.  Heart palpitations, anxiety, and a sensation of heat usually accompany hot flashes. Endorphins calm the sympathetic nervous system, eliminating therefore abnormal heart beat and other vegetative expressions of nervous tension. Endorphins are clinically proven to be effective in body temperature regulation: they increase body temperature if it is below the normal level, and decrease it during fever.           Among numerous symptoms of PMS are the following: anxiety, irritability, mood swings, fatigue, cravings, headaches, water retention, depression, memory instability, and various skin problems.  Cramps during PMS are the result of uterine muscle constriction that causes diminished circulation, insufficient oxygenation, and increased lactic acid concentration.  Clinical experiments show that PMS corresponds to endorphin disturbance.  On the other hand, there numerous experimental data have shown endorphins to be powerful tissue protectors against hypoxia (lack of oxygen).      We can be very positive that intensive skin stimulation helps to improve local circulation and restore oxygenation.  The Applicator definitely provides this type of stimulation.  Considering all this, we asked several PMS sufferers to try the Reflexo-therapy method in hope that skin stimulation would release endorphins into the blood and normalize their concentration. The results were encouraging.  It helped to relieve pain and cramps as well as mood swings and headache.