Acupuncture Reduces Hot Flashes In Women With Breast Cancer

By Author: Jamie Hanson
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The lifesaving treatments for breast cancer often come at a cost. Most women experience night sweats, fatigue, and hot flashes.

However there is new research that suggests that acupuncture may be more effective than antidepressants at helping to ease some of these side effects. This study compared the effectiveness of drug therapy to acupuncture. It was determined that acupuncture was just as effective as drug therapy while having no side effects.

The study also showed that the effects of the acupuncture lasted longer. The acupuncture patients didn't begin having symptoms until about 15 weeks after stooping treatment while it only took about two weeks after stopping drug therapy for the symptoms to return in those women.

In this study, acupuncture was compared to the use of the antidepressants in women who had breast cancer. Each woman was assigned randomly to receive a twelve week course of acupuncture or the antidepressants. Immediately before the beginning of study, those women participating in the study reported having a minimum of fourteen hot flashes per week.

At the conclusion of the study ...
... intervention, both groups reported similar improvements in menopausal symptoms including hot flashes. However, while many women who were in the antidepressant group experienced trouble shooting, constipation, headache, dry mouth, nausea, and other side effects, the group who had the acupuncture experienced none of these side effects.

Through this study it has also been determined that the practice of acupuncture can potentially increase a woman's sex drive while improving her sense of well being and help reduce hot flashes in breast cancer patients.

The study, which has been published in The Journal of Oncology, suggests that when compared to traditional drug therapy, acupuncture is more effective in reducing night sweats and hot flashes for women who are receiving hormone therapy for breast cancer treatment.

Acupuncture, when performed by a licensed acupuncturist, offers the patients a durable, effective, and safe treatment option for hot flashes, which is something that affects the majority of breast cancer survivors. Acupuncture actually has benefits when compared to drug therapy which have more side effects. Patients also reported that acupuncture increased their energy and improved their thought clarity.

While acupuncture has very few side effects, it is important to seek out a fully trained licensed acupuncturist rather than going to a medical doctor or chiropractor with a few hours training in acupuncture calling themselves "medical acupuncturist".

Learn the differences of medical acupuncture and traditional acupuncture and you will see the incredible amounts of differences in both training and experience.