Acupuncture effective treatment for postmenopausal hot flashes

Comparing the effectiveness of acupuncture plus self-care versus self-care alone on hot flash frequency and intensity, and quality of life in postmenopausal women.

MedWire News: Acupuncture plus advice on self-care can contribute to a clinically relevant reduction in hot flashes and increased health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women, a study suggests.

Einar Borud, from the University of Tromsø in Norway, and colleagues conducted their randomized, multicenter, controlled trial in 267 postmenopausal women experiencing seven or more hot flashes per 24 hours. The women received 10 acupuncture sessions plus an information leaflet on available self-provided care for menopausal symptoms, or the self-care advice leaflet only. The researchers assessed changes in self-reported hot flash frequency and severity over 12 weeks.

Women experienced a mean frequency of 12.6 hot flashes per 24 hours at baseline, which decreased by 5.8 per 24 hours in women receiving acupuncture compared with 3.7 in those using self-care only at 12 weeks.

Mean hot flash intensity at baseline was reported as 6.9 in all women, which decreased by 3.2 units in women receiving acupuncture and 1.8 units in those using self-care only.

Borud et al also note that women receiving acupuncture experienced statistically significant improvements in vasomotor, sleep, and somatic symptom scores of the Women’s Health Questionnaire compared with women using self-care only.

“Our results suggest that a policy of use of acupuncture plus self-care can reduce hot flash frequency by 50 percent or more in half of the postmenopausal women experiencing frequent hot flashes,” concludes the team.

Source: Menopause 2009; Advance online publication

Acupuncture effective treatment for postmenopausal hot flashes.pdf