Another study has been published on the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of hot flashes.
Having used this treatment for many of my patients (men and women) with hormone therapy-induced hot flashes, I am not surprised at the published results.
The patients included a small cohort of men with prostate cancer who were being treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The investigators used a simple protocol of electroacupuncture (sorry for the acupuncture lingo to follow: 10 bilateral points at GB34, SP6, KI3, ST36, BL15, BL23, Taiyang, HT7, PC6, LI11; De Qi was elicited at all points and 2Hz was applied at SP6, ST36, BL15, BL23). The treatments each lasted 30 minutes and were done twice a week for 4 weeks.
Patients were given a hot flash score (HFS) questionnaire to complete for the entire length of the study. The HFS is a product of the hot flash frequency and severity (1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe). The HFS is an accepted assessment used in many other studies.
The results were fantastic:
- Mean improvement in HFS at 2-weeks=68% and at 6-weeks=89%.
- Amazingly, 8-months after the completion of the acupuncture treatment, the patients still recorded a mean improvement of 80% from their pre-acupuncture baseline!!
- There were no side effects from this treatment.
If you are living with hot flashes from ADT, give acupuncture a try.
Learn more about complementary therapies in cancer care here.
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