Mulboyne
02-04-2008, 08:57 AM
Boston Globe: Q&A with Anne Harrington (http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/02/03/qa_with_anne_harrington/)
IDEAS: One of the things I learned reading the book is that there's no word for "hot flashes" in Japanese because menopausal women there don't get them.
HARRINGTON: This is the work of an anthropologist named Margaret Lock, who looked at older Japanese women and found that this very common symptom of menopause in Western countries didn't seem to be widely known in Japan.
IDEAS: How does she explain that?
HARRINGTON: Some people said maybe this really has to do with the fact that they eat a lot more soy, and we know that soy contains chemicals that closely mimic the action of estrogen. But they did further studies that were able to rule that out, according to Lock, and so we're left with at least the possibility that it might have something to do with the fact that in Japan there's a different understanding of what it means to be an older woman, and that the body is listening to the culture.
Not my area of expertise but the word "hoteri" (ほてり) seems to be used more often than "ホットフラッシュ". A quick google shows that the isoflavone daidzein, found in soybeans, is sold in supplements to combat hoteri which are marketed to menopausal Japanese women. To be fair, it does look as if the incidence is not as great as in the west but there seems to be a word for it.
IDEAS: One of the things I learned reading the book is that there's no word for "hot flashes" in Japanese because menopausal women there don't get them.
HARRINGTON: This is the work of an anthropologist named Margaret Lock, who looked at older Japanese women and found that this very common symptom of menopause in Western countries didn't seem to be widely known in Japan.
IDEAS: How does she explain that?
HARRINGTON: Some people said maybe this really has to do with the fact that they eat a lot more soy, and we know that soy contains chemicals that closely mimic the action of estrogen. But they did further studies that were able to rule that out, according to Lock, and so we're left with at least the possibility that it might have something to do with the fact that in Japan there's a different understanding of what it means to be an older woman, and that the body is listening to the culture.
Not my area of expertise but the word "hoteri" (ほてり) seems to be used more often than "ホットフラッシュ". A quick google shows that the isoflavone daidzein, found in soybeans, is sold in supplements to combat hoteri which are marketed to menopausal Japanese women. To be fair, it does look as if the incidence is not as great as in the west but there seems to be a word for it.