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Hot flashes are no big secret anymore. A better-kept secret is this: Those pesky personal heat waves don’t inflict themselves only on menopausal women.

Hot flashes no longer discriminate because of age or gender. New-wave drugs that tweak hormones - estrogen and its male cousin, testosterone - have turned up the heat on an age old phenomenon. Men and women getting medical treatment for a variety of reasons — breast and prostate cancer prevention and fertility enhancement, for example — now break out in a sweat when they least expect it.

“I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘You’re sweating,” says James Dorent, who takes a prevention drug after prostate surgery. “1 say, ‘Yeah. I’m in the middle of a hot flash.”

He senses most men don’t get it. But his candor can be a real conversation starter with women who relate. “Like that lady who wrote the book on hot flashes,”‘ says James.

“When I said to her, ‘Hey, I have hot flashes.’ the look on her face was – Ohhhhh”

The author of “When You’re Hot, You’re HOT. A Humorous Survival Guide to Hot flashes” wrote the short, funny book after a breast-cancer diagnosis at .age 41, followed by chemotherapy and breast-cancer-prevention treatment.

Chemotherapy thrust the author into menopause, a fairly common effect among women in their W40s. She also began taking tamoxifen, an estrogen-lowering drug, to cut the risk of cancer recurrence. That combination can trigger heavy duty hot flashes because of a dramatic drop in estrogen. A real “double-whammy”.

“I’d be all dressed, ready to go to work, and I’d have a hot flash. My makeup would be dripping down my face and my silk blouse all sweaty.”

Now, a fan blows cold air her way in the morning while she blow-dries her hair. Always a problem-solver, she kept a diary charting her hot flashes and looking for external clues to what triggers them. Hot air, hot drinks, hot food and hot showers turned up as big culprits.

Her stress level — an internal factor she measured — didn’t seem to figure in the equation. She decided she’d be upfront about what was happening. She told people so they wouldn’t be surprised when her face turned bright red.

Then, she went in search of strategies to put out the fire. Along with fans in every room, she keeps a steady supply of popsicles and ice cream in her freezer. Rather than hot tea, she sips tea with a lot of ice.

Another effective solution is taking natural supplements specifically developed as herbal remedies for menopause, which help the body to increase it’s production natural hormones which are in decline or even missing altogether.

Her sweaters sit on the shelf while she reaches for a short sleeved cotton shirt and a long sleeved one as a warm-up layer. Those are just some of the heat busting tactics she passes along in her light-hearted book.

Five years later and cancer free, she’s still battling hot flashes. She reminds herself often of the pluses, such as not being bothered by cold as much anymore. “In summer at the cabin, it’s easier to jump in the lake.” she says.