Acupuncture may nix nighttime hot flashes

[Celebration]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/22/health/webmd/main2033537.shtml

Acupuncture may nix nighttime hot flashes caused by menopause, according to a new study.

Researchers found seven weeks of acupuncture treatment reduced the severity of nighttime hot flashes by 28 percent among menopausal women compared with a 6 percent decrease among women who had a sham acupuncture treatment.

Hot flashes are a common symptom of menopause and often occur at night, which can significantly disrupt sleep and affect a woman's quality of life. Until recently, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was the most popular treatment for hot flashes. But in the wake of studies that suggested HRT use could increase a woman's risk of heart disease or cancer, alternative therapies for hot flashes have received renewed interest.

Researchers compared the effects of acupuncture vs. a sham acupuncture treatment on the severity and frequency of nighttime hot flashes. Taking part in the study were 29 menopausal women experiencing at least seven moderate to severe hot flashes per day.

[jhrobbins]

1. What about hot flashes not from menopause? I am a man...

and I get them as well. Am I the only one?



When I was young and dumb, I often wondered how much fuss there was over a little 'hot flash'.. I also wondered why my aunt complained so much about a little joint pain - she had rheumatoid arthritis - and not the gods have decided, in my golden years, to show me what it was all about. I would like to apologize to all of my relatives and their friends that I was so condescending towards. I now know what it was all about.

[Acadia Blue]

2. You are getting them from something other than memopause. You

could have an illness or a medication is causing them.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. I haven't hit menopause yet, but I get them

constantly pulling covers on and off all night. I've been told I'm a little heater when I sleep.

From what I hear though, menopausal hot flashes are Intense.

:shrug:

[Celebration]

4. I don't know

But maybe. A good acupuncture resource is at www.acuxo.com. In their library their are various protocols shown--and what they do. I actually use this for acupressure. They say what they do--things like "release heat", "clear cold", etc. I go to the acupuncturist and ask as many things as I can and remember them. When I get home I can do acupressure on the same points. Yes, I think hot flashes are a result of meridian imbalance. And a subset of acupuncture theory is the five elements. "Fire" is one of the key elements. The meridian that sets me on "fire" sometimes is the liver meridian, which is part of the "wood" element. My liver meridian sometimes needs weakening--if it is too strong, the excess "wood" fuels the fire. The water element of course puts out the fire. Pretty cool. I can tell when my liver meridian is out, and I just do acupressure at home and I'm fine.

[havocmom]

5. You are not alone. Havocdad gets them

I think he is having sympathy flashes

He thinks part of global warming problem is the huge female boomer population, standing outside fanning themselves due to hot flashes :D

[Warpy]

6. You're definitely in the minority

which is why medical science hasn't bothered to study hot flashes in depth. They don't even know what initiates the hormonal cascade that releases adrenalin and histamine, causing hearts to race and skin to flush. In fact, they were telling us it was all in our heads up until the 70s, when somebody finally decided to measure skin temperature (duh) and found it would increase by a hefty seven degrees during a hot flash.

If more men got them, we'd know a little more about what causes them and how to treat them. As of now, with HRT being discredited, we have nothing in Western medicine.

I'm glad acupuncture works.