Articles
Acupuncture better than usual care for menopausal hot flushes - Journal of Chinese Medicine, Oct 2008 |
| Posted by Paula Hutchinson (paulahutchinson) on Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 10:14 AM |
A pilot study on the effect of acupuncture in decreasing hot flushes in menopausal women has concluded either that there is a strong placebo effect or that both traditional and sham acupuncture significantly reduce hot flush frequency. Fifty-six postmenopausal women (aged 44 to 55) were randomised to one of three treatment groups: usual care, sham acupuncture (shallow needling at non-therapeutic sites) or TCM acupuncture. The TCM acupuncture group received one of four treatments based on a TCM diagnosis. There was a significant decrease in mean frequency of hot flushes between weeks one and eight across all groups, although the differences between the three groups were not significant. However, the two acupuncture groups showed a significantly greater decrease than the usual care group, but did not differ from each other. (A randomized, controlled pilot study of acupuncture treatment for menopausal hot flushes. Menopause. 2008 Jun 2. [Epub ahead of print]).
