Adverse effects of induced hot flashes on objectively recorded and subjectively reported sleep: results of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist experimental protocol.

Objective: The impact of hot flashes on sleep is of great clinical interest, but results are inconsistent, especially when both hot flashes and sleep are measured objectively. Using objective and subjective measurements, we examined the impact of hot flashes on sleep by inducing hot flashes with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist.

Methods: The gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist leuprolide was administered to 20 healthy premenopausal volunteers without hot flashes or sleep disturbances.

Aging attenuates the pituitary response to gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

Context: Complex changes in GnRH secretion occur with aging in women, but little is known about the effect of aging on the pituitary per se.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine whether pituitary responsiveness to GnRH is attenuated with aging.

Design And Setting: A GnRH antagonist and graded doses of GnRH were used to isolate pituitary responsiveness in Clinical Research Center studies at an academic medical center.