Acupuncture Reduces Hot Flashes
Women suffering from sever hot flashes that often occur during menopause may be afforded some relief through Acupuncture. These hot flashes, which often occur at night, can significantly disrupt sleep and affect a woman’s quality of life.
A study was recently concluded on 29 menopausal women who were experiencing at least seven moderate to severe hot flashes per day. All of the women received 9 treatments delivered by trained acupuncturists in sessions spread over
7 weeks.
Twelve of the women in the study received real Acupuncture treatments using points selected to target both hot flashes and sleepiness. The remainder of the women received sham Acupuncture treatments using non-penetrating needles at
randomly selected Acupuncture points.
During the study, the women were asked to record both the number and the severity of their hot flashes.
The women in the Acupuncture group reported a 28% decrease in the severity of nighttime hot flashes. On the other hand, those women who received the sham treatments reported only a 6% drop in the severity of their discomfort.
The traditional treatment for hot flashes is Hormone Replacement Therapy. Recent studies have shown Hormone Replacement Therapy to increase a woman’s risk of heart disease or cancer. This has sparked renewed interest in alternative treatments.
Researcher Mary Huang, MS, of Stanford University conducted the study and suggests that Acupuncture definitely deserves further study as an alternative treatment for menopausal hot flashes. Acupuncture had a noteworthy result in
decreasing the severity of the discomfort and this bodes well for additional research.