Articles
Acupuncture better than drugs for cancer hot flushes - Journal of Chinese Medicine, Jun 2010 |
| Posted by Paula Hutchinson (paulahutchinson) on Mon Jun 28, 2010 at 1:36 PM |
Not only is acupuncture as effective as drug therapy at preventing hot flushes in breast cancer patients who have been receiving long-term anti-oestrogen therapy, it also increases women's sex drive and improves their sense of well-being. Venlafaxine (Effexor - a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) – the therapy of choice for such symptoms - has numerous adverse effects. An American team randomly assigned fifty patients to receive 12 weeks of acupuncture or venlafaxine treatment. Both groups exhibited significant decreases in hot flushes, depressive symptoms and other quality-of-life symptoms, including significant improvements in mental health. These changes were similar in both groups indicating that acupuncture was as effective as venlafaxine. By two weeks post-treatment, the venlafaxine group experienced significant increases in hot flushes, whereas hot flushes in the acupuncture group remained at low levels. The venlafaxine group experienced 18 incidences of adverse effects (nausea, dry mouth, dizziness, anxiety), whereas the acupuncture group experienced no negative effects. Acupuncture had the additional benefit of increasing sex drive in some women, and most reported improvements in their energy, clarity of thought and sense of well-being. (Acupuncture versus venlafaxine for the management of vasomotor symptoms in patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer: a randomized controlled trial. J Clin Oncol. 2010 Feb 1;28(4):634-40).
