Women who experience moderate to severe hot flashes and night sweats during menopause tend to have higher rates of hip fracture, according to researchers at the University at Buffalo. They also tend to have lower bone mineral density than peers without significant menopausal symptoms.

The Buffalo study followed thousands of women for eight years. Adjusting for variables such as age, body mass index and demographic factors, the researchers found that affected women were nearly twice as likely to have a hip fracture.

"Women who experience vasomotor menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes, will lose bone density at a faster rate and nearly double their risk of hip fracture," said epidemiologist Jean Wactawski-Wende, "and the serious public health risk this poses is underscored by previous research that found an initial fracture poses an 86 percent risk for a second new fracture.

"Clearly, more research is needed to understand the relationship between menopausal symptoms and bone health. In the meantime, women at risk of fracture may want to engage in behaviors that protect their bones, including increasing their physical activity and ensuring they have adequate intakes of calcium and vitamin D."

Body of Knowledge

The stomach produces a new layer of protective mucus every two weeks.

Life in Big Macs

One hour of jogging in place (which probably beats jogging to a fast-food joint) burns 544 calories (based on a 150-pound person), or the equivalent of 0.8 Big Mac.

Phobia of the Week

Allodoxaphobia: fear of opinions.

Never Say Diet

The speed-eating record for bratwurst is 43 2.9-ounce tubes of mixed meat in eight minutes, held by Molly Schuyler. The record was broken at the 2014 Bierhaus NYC National Oktoberfest. You never sausage a commotion. (Hey, there are wurst puns.)

Observation

"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not." — American humorist Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Medical History

This week in 1994, the first successful operation on a fetus without surgically opening the woman's body was announced by Dr. Ruben Quintero at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Curtain Calls

In 1923, George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, died after a mosquito bite on his face, which he cut while shaving, became seriously infected, leading to blood poisoning and eventually to pneumonia. The death of the English aristocrat is sometimes fabulously attributed to the so-called "curse of the pharaohs" because Carnarvon was the financial backer of the search for and excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt in 1922.

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