'Deeply unpleasant': Male MPs try on hot flush vests that stimulate menopause

Male MPs have called hot flushes "deeply unpleasant" and "uncomfortable" after trying on a vest that mimics the menopause symptom.

The experience was part of an event raising awareness of the flushes, a sudden feeling of heat in the upper body that, according to the NHS, 70% of menopausal women experience.

Former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith, and Labour MPs Wes Streeting and Stephen Kinnock were among those who donned the vest fitted with heated pads.

"If [men] had this, we'd be complaining a lot," Mr Duncan Smith noted, wiping his face with his hands.

"And we can't," Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who hosted the event, responded. As chair of the UK Menopause Taskforce, Ms Harris has spoken openly about her experience with the menopause.

As the pads on his own 'MenoVest' warmed up, Mr Streeting said: "I'm definitely feeling it right across my body now. Oh, this is deeply unpleasant."

It's estimated 13 million women in the UK are currently menopausal, and a recent survey found one in 10 women have left a job due to their symptoms.

Alongside hot flushes, other common menopause symptoms include changes to menstruation patterns, brain fog, low mood, palpitations and muscle aches.

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Ms Harris said Tuesday's event had a "fantastic turnout from colleagues of all parties wanting to show their support and solidarity".

The vests brought in for the demonstration were made by menopause support service Over The Bloody Moon and pharmaceutical company Theramex.