Women who have been treated for breast cancer are frequently faced with a dreadful dilemma: they are plagued with terrible hot flashes, but the hormone treatment usually used for relief from this symptom during menopause is not appropriate for women with breast cancer. Estrogen could spur the growth of breast tumors and must be avoided.
Electroacupuncture for Hot Flashes:
A new study offers hope for women in this predicament. Scientists recruited 120 breast cancer patients suffering from many hot flushes every day. They were randomized to receive the medication gabapentin or a placebo, electroacupuncture or placebo electroacupuncture for eight weeks. At the end of that time, women who had received electroacupuncture, acupuncture in which the needles carry a weak electrical current, had the greatest reduction of hot flashes.
Follow-Up Shows Electroacupuncture Benefits Continue:
After sixteen weeks, those who had received electroacupuncture were still experiencing the benefits of the intervention. Those who had gotten medication were slightly worse. Remember, they had stopped taking the medication two months previously.
Although the research should be reproduced, these are exciting results for women suffering the aftereffects of breast cancer treatment. We’ll also be on the lookout for other studies on whether acupuncture can help hot flashes.
