Acupuncture Can Cure Hot Flashes
Source: MedIndia
http://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/Can-Acupuncture-Cure-Hot-Flushes-in-Menopausal-Women-89892-1.html
Hot flashes are caused due to hormonal changes during menopause. It is characterized by spreading of intense heat in the upper body with profuse sweating and rapid heart beat. This can be accompanied by feelings of nausea, dizziness, headache, anxiety, depression, and feeling of suffocation or weakness. Hot flashes are very common in menopausal women.
Chinese medicine is known to have a long tradition of treating hot flashes quite effectively. Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine, which aims at treating or healing the sufferings of the patient by insertion of needles at specific points. This therapy treats pain, prevents diseases and promotes health and well-being.
Acupuncture acts on Xi (the inner wind, spirit or energy). It helps in treating hot flashes and other symptoms in menopausal women.
A multicentre, pragmatic, randomized controlled Acuflash study was conducted in Norway during 2006-07. The study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on postmenopausal symptoms. The objective of the study was to compare the efficacy of acupuncture along with self-care against self-care alone in treating hot flashes and postmenopausal symptoms.
About 267 women with menopause participated in the study. Around 134 of them were given 10 acupuncture treatments by a qualified acupuncturist and advised on self-care. The remaining 133 women in the control group were given advice on self-care only.
During the treatment session, no complications like fainting or bleeding were reported. However one skin reaction, one unacceptable bruising and five cases of unacceptable pain were noted. In comparison to conventional medications, acupuncture produced no harmful side-effects.
The conclusion drawn from the Acuflash study was that the point selection and factors other than the diagnoses of TCM syndrome may affect the final outcome of the treatment. The study showed that treatment with acupuncture along with self-care contributed significantly to the reduction of hot flushes in postmenopausal women. With no serious adverse events, acupuncture proves to be a promising alternative therapy for treating hot flashes.
Source: Einar Kristian et al; Acupuncture in Medicine; 27:101-108
