Heat redistribution sustains core cooling

Menopausal hot flashes may keep cooling the body’s core after sweating ends, potentially driving the cold rebound and repeated waking that follow some flashes. This proposed mechanism says that peripheral tissues, the body parts outside its deep core, may have cooled during the flash. When blood flow shifts afterward, those tissues could draw heat from the core even while evaporation is suppressed and external heat exchange is held near zero. Its predicted signature is a falling core temperature as peripheral tissues warm, while whole-body heat content stays comparatively stable. Testing it requires regional temperature, blood-flow, and heat-balance measurements. If core cooling stops, delayed evaporation or conductive heat loss remain plausible rivals.