A recent study claimed that acupuncture may help women suffering the most common symptoms of menopause. It also suggests that ancient Chinese needle therapy can curtail the sternness of hot flushes and ease mood swings among who receive it regularly. Hot flushes my abruptly create an uncomfortable feeling of intense heat.
While recurrent flushes at night can interrupt sleep. The symptoms are occurred due to the dilation of blood vessels in the skin and are associated with imbalances of hormone however their causes are still not completely understood. Medication including Hormone replacement Therapy and some antidepressants proved to fight hot flushes, which seem to damp down the blood vessel system of the body.
In order to analyze the effects of acupuncture in menopause, Turkish research team examined fifty-three menopausal women. Among all participants, twenty-seven received acupuncture two times a week for ten weeks, which involves placing needles at certain points of the body to improve energy and liberate the body’s natural painkiller called endorphin.
The remaining study participants were provided placebo treatment. The results of the study revealed that participants those receiving genuine acupuncture treatments had lowers scores for intensity of the hot flushes and mood swings. These increasingly improved over the treatment period, in comparison to those provided with placebo treatment.
According to researchers, the effect of endorphin might curtail flushes by stabilizing the temperature of the body. However, they are not still assure, how long the effect lasted after completion of the treatment. Though, it is a small study but the complementary therapy could be worth trying for menopausal women who are incapable or reluctant to use HRT.
The confirmation is not strong from earlier studies and it is a small tryout.They need to have much bigger numbers to confirm this really can help women going through the menopause, stated David Sturdee, president of the International Menopause Society.