According to a study published late last year in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, acupuncture is just as effective as the standard drug therapy for relieving hot flushes in breast cancer patients.
There were 50 women in the trial aged between 35 and 77 years. 82 per cent of them were post-menopausal. They were randomly assigned into either the drug group or the acupuncture group. The acupuncture consisted of two treatments per week for four weeks then a weekly treatment for eight weeks. The drug, venlafaxine (Effexor), was used for the same duration.
The women who received acupuncture had the added bonus of boosted libido, improved mental clarity and an improved sense of wellbeing whilst some women in the drug therapy group experienced side effects such as headaches, nausea, and flushes getting worse before getting better.
The doctor involved in the study is encouraging physicians to embrace this therapy as an adjunct for their clients as she says the results are highly unlikely to be as a result of the placebo effect. Patients were studied for a year after the treatment to assess how they were coping and both groups were similar after this time.
Hot flushes are common adverse effects of anti-estrogen hormone treatment and, since the recommended duration of therapy is five years, these adverse effects can become a major cause of decreased quality of life and treatment discontinuation, according to the study authors.Often women don’t want to take any more medication and so acupuncture is a really attractive alternative that’s not only effective but improves their quality of life.
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