Posts Tagged "hot flashes"

Wednesday Bubble: take care of your wants and needles

Posted by Liz on Jan 20, 2010 in hot flash, nightsweats | 1 comment

Thinking about trying acupuncture for those menopausal symptoms? Make sure they are the real deal!

Researchers say that non-invasive acupuncture, often preferred by the needle-phobic, will not have much effect on hot flashes and symptoms. In fact, in a small scientific study published in the online edition of  Menopause, women with daytime and nighttime hot flashes and symptoms received laser acupuncture treatments or fake laser treatments once every two weeks over a three-month period. (Laser acupuncture (laser acupoint stimulation) is a technique that uses laser light that is applied to — but not inserted into — the skin to stimulate common acupuncture points.) Specific acupuncture points were selected from a series of 10 points and then individualized for each participant and her respective needs.

At the study’s end, no differences were seen between the groups in terms of menopausal symptoms.

Does this mean that acupuncture doesn’t work for hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms? No, not at all. In fact, acupuncture has shown to be effective for alleviating hot flashes and the like. But you need real needles. If you are needle-phobic, speak a licensed acupuncturist or check out some of these wonderful links provided by the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. I’ve a huge fan of acupuncture and don’t care for needles. Yet, my experience with acupuncture is that in most cases, it is virtually painless and may simply be associated with mild tingling or brief ache that quickly dissipates.

How about you? How has acupuncture worked for your symptoms?

Got ‘tude?

Posted by Liz on Jan 8, 2010 in emotions | 0 comments

[Used with permission. Thanks to egopicks.com and their seriously fine guitar picks! Rock n Roll!]

Your ‘tude may be affecting how you experience menopause as well as how frequently those flashes occur. What’s more, your environment may also play a role.

In a detailed review of 13 studies examining women’s attitudes before and during menopause, researchers discovered a few choice tidbits:

• Ya gotta live it to understand it. Apparently, younger women who are premenopausal have more negative attitudes towards menopause than women who are menopausal. In fact, data show that one’s mood state prior to starting menopause may actually affect one’s menopausal atttitudes and experiences.
• I’ve got all my sisters (and teachers) with me. Research shows that education and social support contribute greatly to having positive attitudes and experiences during the transition.
• Which came first? The chicken or the egg? Depression  is apparently associated with having more negative attitudes about menopause although researchers haven’t quite figured out the causality, i.e. depression before symptoms or symptoms before depression. Regardless, it might bet helpful to tackle those blues and try to chase them away.
• It takes a village. The reviewed studies included women from North America, Europe, Asia and the middle east. They showed that cultural attitudes can significantly impact attitudes towards menopause. One of the most discouraging (and telling) findings was that the medicalization of menopause affected Caucasian women in particular, leading to a tendency towards negative attitudes. Say no more!

Overall, the key take-away point is that negative social attitudes + individual negative attitudes = worsening symptoms and poorer experiences.  I believe that we can change this equation for the positive by supporting one another, working on changing our beliefs about menopause and what it is (and isn’t), taking steps to boost mood, whether they be exercise, herbs, antidepressants, or mind-body practices, and by unifying to stop the medicalization of menopause.

What do you say? You in? Got ‘tude?

Wednesday Bubble: what’s black and red and so not over?

Posted by Liz on Jan 6, 2010 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

How about black cohosh and red clover?

Naysayers keep bashing both of these herbs for relief of menopausal symptoms. And yet, anecdotal evidence show otherwise; I know quite a number of women who have successfully shut down their flashes and night sweats with standardized black cohosh in particular. For red clover, the results have not been quite as favourable. Still, I say this bubble ain’t over yet.

In the latest study, published in Menopause journal, researchers examined the safety and effectiveness of standardized black cohosh or red clover compared to hormone replacement or placebo in 89 menopausal women with severe hot flashes or night sweats (52 to 71 per week). Participants took one of these compounds for a year.

The results showed that while all women reported improvements, reductions in the frequency of symptoms varied by compound:

Black cohosh 34%
Red clover 57%
Placebo 63%
HRT 94%

However, contrary to previous reports, both black cohosh and red clover were found to be safe.

So, what should you do when it comes to black cohosh or red clover? As always, speak to a health practitioner about your symptoms so that you and she can make an educated decision about therapeutic strategies. Be sure that any herb you try is standardized and manufactured in a reputable facility. Finally, be aware that herbs take much longer than pharmaceuticals to start working so don’t get discouraged. The good news is that both of these products can be safe when used responsibly and under supervision. Nevertheless, like any medication, they can interact with other drugs and other conditions so you need to do your homework wisely.

Needling your way into the ’10s

Posted by Liz on Jan 4, 2010 in hot flash | 2 comments

As regular readers of this blog know, I’m a huge advocate of acupuncture. Yet, of late, there have been a lot of studies that suggest that acupuncture is ineffective for treating hot flashes. That is, until the ACUFLASH trial came along.

ACUFLASH compared acupuncture in addition to self care to self-care alone over a 12 week period. The findings? Acupuncture plus self-care reduced the mean frequency of hot flashes by 48% in women  compared with 28% of women using self-care methods only. This means that 50% of women receiving acupuncture experienced a 50% or greater reduction in how often their hot flashes occurred, compared to 16% of women using self-care. Significant reductions were also seen in hot flash intensity. Acupuncture also greatly improved overall reported quality of life. The difference in this trial compared to others exploring the effectiveness of acupuncture was that practitioners were able to both follow a standard protocol and add individual aspects to it – a key to finding quality in Traditional Chinese medicine practices.

In this latest study, investigators from ACUFLASH revisited study participants at 6 and 12 months, asking them about use of healthcare providers, medication and dietary supplements, and whether or not their daily habits had changed (e.g., rest, sleep, physical activity, coffee and alcohol, tobacco use). They also were asked if they had experienced any changes in menopausal symptoms, namely the intensity and frequency of hot flashes, quality of life and well-being). Additionally, women who had initially been treated with acupuncture and self-care were asked if they would recommend acupuncture to others and/or use it again.

Interestingly, at 6 and 12 months, significant differences between the study groups were no longer present; in fact, many women who had initially experienced substantial declines in hot flash frequency plateaued out. However, women who indicated that they continued to use acupuncture after the original study ended, experienced an even larger reduction in the frequency and intensity of their hot flashes through the 12 year period.

The investigators state that expectations of positive results and increased well-being definitely play an important role in reductions of vasomotor symptoms. However, they also suggest that adding self-care to acupuncture can contribute to a faster reduction in vasomotor symptoms and improvements in quality of life (which, they say, may be related to some cognitive-related triggering of mechanisms that contribute to menopausal symptoms).

One of the most important findings of this study is that in order to be effective, acupuncture treatments should be regular; they will  not impart any long-term effects.

Personally, I’m all for needling my way into the New Year. You?

Wednesday Bubble: a poke and voila!

Posted by Liz on Dec 23, 2009 in hot flash | 2 comments

Researchers are suggesting that  a single injection of an anesthetic into the sympathetic nervous system may shut down hot flashes all together.

What?!

Is this a bubble to be burst or a solution to celebrate? Only time can tell.

True confession – much as I try, I cannot locate the original study. So I am going to share what I’ve learned through what I can find and you can draw your own conclusions!

Theoretically, the new strategy involves injecting a local anesthetic into the sympathetic nerves in the neck to block norepinephrine. (Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter that has been posited as a possible explanation for hot flashes, i.e. both norepinephrine and  serotonin lower the set point in how the body regulates temperature, meaning that heat loss mechanisms can be triggered by subtle changes in core body temperature.)

In this small study, which involved 15 women, all experienced decreases in the severity of their hot flashes by as much as 80%  for up to two weeks.

A larger study is evidently in the works to determine if this approach can help alleviate and possibly even eliminate hot flashes. Meanwhile, I am going to see if I can find more information. It’s an interesting strategy and one that could truly revolutionize the way that we address hot flashes if if proves to be true.