Get Easy Health Digest™ in your inbox and don’t miss a thing when you subscribe today. Plus, get the free bonus report, Mother Nature’s Tips, Tricks and Remedies for Cholesterol, Blood Pressure & Blood Sugar as my way of saying welcome to the community!
‘Stick it’ to hot flashes for real relief
Are hot flashes and night sweats making you miserable? Well, you’re not alone. Most women have been — and will be — there at one point or another… 80 percent of them to be exact.
And unless you’re one of the fortunate few who has escaped these miserable mid-life symptoms, then you may feel like you’re stuck in an endless cycle of sweaty days and sleepless nights.
If you’re miserable enough, you may even be tempted to turn to mainstream medicine’s solution to menopause: hormone replacement therapy. Be warned, however, that the risks of hormone replacement therapy outweigh the benefits.
Research shows that hormone replacement therapy increases your risk of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers, among other types of cancer. It also increases your risk of heart attack, stroke and pulmonary embolism.
So why risk it when mounds of research demonstrate the effectiveness of a safer alternative therapy?
I’m talking about is acupuncture. And it’s been proven time and time again to masterfully reduce the symptoms of menopause… and may keep hot flashes away for as long as six months!
A few years ago, a study published in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine found that acupuncture dramatically reduced hot flashes in menopausal women. It also reduced other symptoms of menopause, like mood swings, and had a positive effect on estrogen levels.
And now, new research published in the journal Menopause shows that acupuncture treatments reduce the frequency of hot flashes and night sweats experienced by menopausal women by a whopping 36 percent!
It appears that acupuncture is not only effective — it’s also long lasting. Researchers found that the benefits of acupuncture lasted for an additional six months after the women stopped receiving treatment.
So it sounds to me like acupuncture may be one of the best side-effect-free solutions to menopause… and researchers seem to agree.
“There are a number of non-hormonal options for treating hot flashes and night sweats that are available to women,” said Nancy Avis, Ph.D., professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the study. “None of these options seem to work for everyone, but our study showed that acupuncture from a licensed acupuncturist can help some women without any side effects.”
So rather than stand another sweaty, sleepless night, get out there and find a licensed acupuncturist in your area. Researchers found that women received the most benefits after about eight acupuncture treatments. And if you really want to keep hot flashes and night sweats away, you can also complement your acupuncture with other effective natural therapies like black cohosh and vitamin E.
Sources:
-
E. Avis, R.R. Coeytaux, S. Isom, K. Prevette, T. Morgan. “Acupuncture in Menopause (AIM) study: a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial.” June 2016; 23(6): 626–637.
-
“Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Cancer Risk.” American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
-
Ziaei, A. Kazemnejad, M. Zareai. “The effect of vitamin E on hot flashes in menopausal women.” Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation. 2007; 64(4):204-7.
-
“Black cohosh.” University of Maryland Medical Center. http://umm.edu. Retrieved May 24, 2016.