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 During hot flashes, women suddenly feel uncomfortably warm, become
flushed and begin sweating. Hot flashes can be treated with hormone
therapies, but these have been linked to increased risks of heart
attacks, strokes, blood clots, breast cancer, and other problems,
prompting many women to seek non-drug alternatives.
"I have been doing research in menopause for 30 years. I had heard
from many women that they are bothered by hot flashes and do not
wish to take hormone therapy," Nancy Avis, from the Wake Forest
School of Medicine in North Carolina, told Reuters Health in an
email.
Avis and colleagues looked closely at three studies of non-drug
treatment options for hot flashes and pooled the results, reporting
their findings in the journal Menopause. All of the women had been
experiencing at least four hot flashes a day.
The researchers found that hot flashes became less frequent over
about eight weeks in women who tried acupuncture, attended yoga
sessions or took health and wellness education classes.
Overall, they found, any intervention that drew the women's
attention was more effective than doing nothing at all.
The first study, for example, divided participants into three
groups. One group received regular acupuncture, a second received
fake acupuncture treatments, and a third did not receive any
treatment at all. Women in this study showed a 40 percent reduction
in the number of hot flashes they experienced, whether they were
given actual or sham acupuncture treatment - but not if they
received no intervention.
In the second study, women either practiced yoga regularly, attended
health and wellness classes, or did not take part in either
activity. Women in the yoga group showed a 66 percent reduction in
hot flashes while those in the wellness group showed a 63 percent
reduction.
In the third study, half of the women received acupuncture
treatments. At 8 weeks, the acupuncture group showed a 33.9 percent
reduction in the frequency of symptoms like hot flashes, while the
group that did not get acupuncture treatments showed a mere 3.3
percent reduction.
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Understanding the physiological effects of stress management and
yoga and how they impact the cardiovascular, endocrine and nervous
systems is useful, Dr. Patricia Davidson, of the International
Council on Women's Health Issues, said in an email.
"Establishing positive health seeking behaviors is critical at this
time of life when the risks for chronic conditions, such as heart
disease, diabetes and stroke, increase," added Dr. Davidson, who was
not involved in the studies.
"The results are not surprising to me," Dr. Monica Christmas,
Director of the Menopause Program at the University of Chicago, told
Reuters Health in an email.
Dr. Christmas, who was not involved in any of the studies, added,
"I'm in my late 40's and have been an avid yogi for over 20 years.
If there was ever a fountain of youth, I believe it is yoga. The
studies show the benefit of doing something active that relieves
stress and overall feels good."
One problem, Dr. Christmas pointed out, is that acupuncture and yoga
can be expensive and might not be affordable or accessible to a
large number of women.
The problem of hot flashes is widespread, she noted. "(About) 80
percent of women experience vasomotor symptoms of varying degrees,
which I see in my menopause clinics," she said. "I base treatment on
patient preferences, medical history and severity of symptoms. I
often discuss lifestyle modifications and non-prescription treatment
modalities as first-line care. (For) women with severe symptoms
resulting in significant quality of life issues, I discuss
prescription options."
Dr. Davidson agrees.
"Interventions need to be tailored ... balancing risks and
benefits," she said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2ApfJRs Menopause, online October 22, 2018.
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