Acupuncture Relieves Hot Flashes

A recent study has reported that the use of traditional Chinese acupuncture can help to relieve the severity of hot flashes, as well as various other symptoms associated with menopause. The research study was published in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine.

For the study, the researchers enlisted the help of 53 participants, all who were postmenopausal women, meaning they had not had a period for at least one year. The participant's menopause symptoms included the usual symptoms: hot flashes, vaginal dryness, urinary tract infections (UTIs), and mood problems.  The symptoms were measured utilizing a standardized 5-point scale.

Twenty-seven of the study participants received a treatment of traditional acupuncture two times a week for a period of about ten weeks.  For the treatments, acupuncture needles were kept in place in the epidermis for a period of twenty minutes.  There was no addition of either manual or electrical stimulation. The rest of the study participants received a fake, or placebo, form of acupuncture.

The women's hormonal levels were also measured before the initiation of the study.  The measurements included estrogen, FSH, and LH. These hormone levels were also measured and recorded after the initial treatment and after at the conclusion of the last treatment in order to detect any changes over the course of the study.

The data indicated that the study participants who were given the treatment of traditional acupuncture had substantially reduced scores for both hot flashes and mood swings, but not for vaginal dryness and urinary problems the conclusion of the ten week study than the women who had received the placebo treatment. The symptom that had resulted in the largest measured reduction in severity was hot flashes.

Additionally, the positive effects of the treatments appeared to be a cumulative effect, with more profound results being measured at the end of the course of the study.

There was also observed to be a raise in estrogen levels, while LH levels were lower in the study participants who received the actual acupuncture treatments. Both reduced levels of estrogen and elevated LH and FSH levels are signals common during menopause, due to the ovaries stopping function.

The scientists suggested that the mechanism behind the severity of hot flashes being measurably reduced could be due to the acupuncture treatments resulting in an increase in the production of endorphins in the body, which may play a role in regulating body temperature.

The researchers stated that their study was  a small, test trial and that, at the conclusion of the study, they did not continue to measure how long relief of symptoms persisted.  However, this study does suggest that traditional Chinese acupuncture may be a useful alternative therapy for women who can't or don't want to use the standard hormone replacement therapy to treat bothersome menopausal symptoms.

Growing numbers of women are turning to alternative therapies for treating menopause symptoms, such as using herbal remedies to treat hot flashes and night sweats and using magnetic therapy to treat menopause symptoms.