Acupuncture can help ease menstrual pain, pregnancy-related back pain, and now, a small new study suggests, it can also reduce the severity of hot flashes. Of the 53 menopausal women who took part in the study, about half received acupuncture treatments twice a week for 10 weeks while the others received "sham" acupuncture (in which needles are placed randomly rather than traditional therapeutic locations). Results showed that in addition to easing the hot flashes, true acupuncture also elicited a beneficial effect on mood swings among the women treated. No such changes took place among those who received the sham acupuncture. Treatment didn’t affect vaginal dryness or the number of urinary tract infections among the women in the study, which was published in the March issue of the journal Acupuncture and Medicine. Elsewhere, mindfulness classes, including instruction on meditation and stretching, improved the quality of life among women experiencing severe hot flashes. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester randomly assigned 110 women either to attend mindfulness classes for eight weeks or to sign up on a waiting list for the classes. Afterwards, the women in the mindfulness classes reported being less bothered by their hot flashes, less stressed and anxious and better able to sleep. This study was published online on Feb. 26 by Menopause
