Menopausal Symptoms Helped by Acupuncture
From the conclusion of this study: “We found that a course of acupuncture treatments was associated with significant reduction in VMS, and several quality-of-life measures, compared with no acupuncture, and that clinical benefit persisted for at least 6 months beyond the end of treatment.”
Note: VMS is vasomotor symptoms, or hot flashes.
People’s Pharmacy, a National Public Radio (NPR) program, had their latest weekly show (on 7/14/16) about Acupuncture entitled How Acupuncture Can Help You Overcome Health Challenges. In this particular program, they highlight newly published research on acupuncture benefiting menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes (aka vasomotor symptoms) and answer basic questions about acupuncture.
The mission of People’s Pharmacy is “Empowering you to make wise decisions about your own health, by providing you with essential health information about both medical and alternative treatment options.”1, which is completely in line with my philosophy of healthcare! People’s Pharmacy is one of my favorite NPR programs, and I listen to it on my local NPR station, KCHO, or North State Public Radio.
Reference:
1 http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/about
I see Gabapentin, aka Neurontin, typically prescribed for diabetic peripheral neuropathy, or post-herpetic neuralgia (nerve pain), or more so nowadays, any type of pain. Anyhow, it has also been prescribed by some doctors to relieve the hot flashes associated with menopause (although this use was advised against by the FDA in 2013 ). Anyhow, this is another study showing how acupuncture will benefit hot flashes. In this research, acupuncture was used specifically on patients who had “treatment-related hot flashes”. This means that patients were taking pharmaceutical medications such as Tamoxifen and Arimidex (because they were diagnosed with Estrogen-Receptor Positive (ER-Positive) breast cancer), which results in hot flashes.
NOTE: See that the direct link to the MedScape article above does not work unless you log into MedScape unfortunately. But you can search for the title above on MedScape and find the article easily (or logging in anyway will take you directly to the article).
Dr. Maoshing Ni, or Dr. Mao as he is affectionately known, is a 38th-generation doctor of Chinese medicine and co-founder of Yo San University, a college of Traditional Chinese Medicine in southern California. He is considered ‘an authority on Taoist anti-aging medicine’ and has written many books on this topic. I think my favorite books are “Secrets of Longevity” for its common-sense wisdom in an easy-to-read format (which I have referenced many times for my patients’ use), “Second Spring“, another easy reference about treating menopausal symptoms naturally,” and his latest book, “Secrets of Longevity Cookbook” (I wrote a review of this cookbook that can be found here). Dr. Mao has become more famous in recent years due to his appearances on the Dr. Oz show – kudos to him for bringing Chinese Medicine to the masses, I say!!
I also now carry some of Dr. Mao’s wellness products, see my previous blog post.
For more information about Dr. Mao and Chinese Medicine, see his websites:
Ask Dr. Mao
Tao of Wellness
Alliance for Natural Health Article:
Popular Antidepressant May Promote Breast Cancer
NOTE: There are many natural and safe alternatives to both depression and menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, including Acupuncture! See my other blog entries (click on tags for depression or menopause).
This research shows that post-menopausal women who consume sodas and other sugary ‘foods’ are at an increased risk of one type of endometrial cancer, an estrogen-dependent one. As this researcher says, “Increased levels of estrogens and insulin are established risk factors for endometrial cancer.”
Sugary Drinks Raise Endometrial Cancer Risk
It is worth noting that this research didn’t find any correlation between the consumption of ‘sugar-free’ sodas or foods with the risk of endometrial cancer. However, keep in mind that the consumption of the ‘sugar substitutes’ such as aspartamine, saccharin, sucralose, sorbitol, etc. all have other potential detrimental health effects of their own! (I.e., I highly recommend not consuming these ‘sugars’ as well – I generally recommend to use only natural sugars such as honey, stevia, coconut sugar, maple syrup, raw cane sugar, xylitol, etc.!)
Heavenly Herbs and Acupuncture handout:
A few of the the herbal formulas I use for Menopausal Symptoms:
Estrovera – a nutraceutical product especially for hot flashes. (This is a phytoestrogen product that doesn’t include soy).
Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan – typical Chinese herbal formula for the symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats, especially when the patient presents with a dry, red tongue.
Wu Ji Bai Feng Wan (Black Chicken, White Phoenix formula) – also used post-partum, this herbal formula nourishes the Blood and Kidney Qi and Jing (to be explained later).
Diet is of the utmost importance too! Increase intake for blood-building foods such as dark green, leafy veggies and seaweed.
Acupuncture is also excellent for menopausal symptoms!
Many more options to be added later.
Acupuncture Reduces Side Effects from Tamoxifen, Arimidex
Finally research shows that acupuncture will treat menopausal symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats, and in this case, specifically the side effects of Breast Cancer drugs!