Acupuncture curbs severity of menopausal hot flushes

The effect of acupuncture on postmenopausal symptoms and reproductive hormones: A sham controlled clinical trial

2011-03-08

(Press-News.org) Traditional Chinese acupuncture curbs the severity of hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms, suggests a small study published today in Acupuncture in Medicine.

The effects did not seem to be related to changes in levels of the hormones responsible for sparking the menopause and its associated symptoms, the study shows.

The authors base their findings on 53 middle aged women, all of whom were classified as being postmenopausal - they had spontaneously stopped having periods for a year. Their somatic (hot flushes) urogenital (vaginal dryness and urinary tract infection) and psychological (mood swings) symptoms were measured using a five point scale (MRS).

Twenty seven of the women received traditional Chinese acupuncture twice a week for 10 weeks, with needles left in position for 20 minutes without any manual or electrical stimulation. The rest were given sham acupuncture.

Hormone levels of oestrogen, follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinising hormone (LH) were measured before the study began and after the first and last acupuncture sessions in both groups to see if these changed.

The results showed that those women given traditional acupuncture had significantly lower MRS scores for somatic and psychological, but not urogenital, symptoms at the end of the 10 weeks than their peers given the sham treatment. The symptom registering the sharpest fall in severity was that of hot flushes.

Furthermore, the effects seemed to be cumulative, with stronger results seen between the first and last sessions.

Oestrogen levels also rose, while LH levels fell in the group treated with traditional Chinese acupuncture. Low levels of oestrogen and high LH and FSH levels are characteristic of the menopause, as the ovaries start to fail.

But because of the differences between the groups in these various hormones to start with, there was little evidence to suggest that any hormonal fluctuations were themselves responsible for the changes in symptom severity, say the authors.

They suggest that the explanation for the reduced severity of hot flushes might be that acupuncture boosts the production of endorphins, which may stabilise the body's temperature controls.

The authors caution that their study was small and that they did not monitor how long symptom relief lasted, but they suggest that traditional Chinese acupuncture could be an alternative for those women unable or unwilling to use hormone replacement therapy to ease troublesome menopausal symptoms.

### END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Suggesting genes' friends, Facebook-style

2011-03-08

Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), both in Heidelberg, Germany, have developed a new method that uncovers the combined effects of genes. Published online today in Nature Methods, it helps understand how different genes can amplify, cancel out or mask each others' effects, and enables scientists to suggest genes that interfere with each other in much the same manner that facebook suggests friends. To understand the connections between genetic make-up and traits like disease susceptibility, scientists ...

Older parents are happier with more children

2011-03-08

This release is available in German. "Children may be a long-term investment in happiness," says MPIDR demographer Mikko Myrskylä. Together with Rachel Margolis from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA, he published the new study in the latest issue of the journal "Population and Development Review". It shows a global trend: while for parents under 30 the level of happiness decreases with the first and each additional child, mothers and fathers aged 30 to 39 feel as happy as childless peers until they have four children or more. From age 40 onwards parents ...

Unique frog helps amphibian conservation efforts

2011-03-08

A tropical frog – the only one of its kind in the world – is providing conservationists with exclusive insights into the genetic make-up of its closest endangered relatives. University of Manchester scientists have allowed two critically endangered species of Central American Leaf frogs to interbreed, producing the unique frog – a hybrid of the two species. DNA tests using a harmless mouth swab showed that the two parent frogs were actually very closely related despite being different species. The findings are important because DNA tests on frogs of the same species ...

Genome sequencing used to assess a novel form of Clostridium botulinum

2011-03-08

Scientists on the Norwich Research Park have sequenced the genome of a novel strain of Clostridium botulinum, one of the most dangerous pathogens known to man. The strain produces an unusual botulinum neurotoxin, known as type A5 neurotoxin, which was isolated by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), following a case of wound botulism. Professor Mike Peck and his research group at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) study Clostridium botulinum. Their expertise is crucial for preventing food poisoning outbreaks in the UK and internationally and to understanding the threat ...

Otters on road to recovery in Andalusia

2011-03-08

Improved environmental conditions have enabled the otter (Lutra lutra) to spread in Andalusia over the past 20 years. However, the recovery of populations of this mammal has been "relatively" slow, and in some areas the impact of human activities still prevents the species from gaining a foothold. "The high level of 'humanisation' of the landscape still acts as a strong impediment to the expansion of the otter, to such an extent that it is preventing the species from fully recovering its original distribution area", Miguel Clavero, lead author of the study and a researcher ...

Universal screening programs can uncover abuse, study finds

2011-03-08

TORONTO, ON., March 7, 2011—Screening every woman who comes to a health care centre does increase the number who acknowledge they have been abused by their partners, a new study confirms. The study, led by Patricia O'Campo, director of the Centre for Inner City Research at St. Michael's Hospital, represents a major reversal of thinking about the value of universal screening programs for domestic abuse or intimate partner violence. Until now, the research and health care policy communities felt there was insufficient evidence to support such programs. O'Campo reviewed ...

Political narratives on race, southern identity influence national elections

2011-03-08

New research from North Carolina State University shows how attempts to define the South by Republicans and Democrats may have set the stage for President Obama's victories in Southern states – and shaped the way Americans view themselves. "Every presidential election is a chance to discuss what it means to be American," says Dr. Christina Moss, teaching assistant professor of communication at NC State and author of a paper on the research. "The South garnered a great deal of attention in the 2004 election season, and the narratives from that election may provide clues ...

MEMS thermal sensor detects pre-atherosclerotic lesions

2011-03-08

New York / Heidelberg, 7 March 2011 A new study published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering shows that a MEMS thermal sensor deployed by an angiogram catheter can detect the earliest stages of atherosclerosis. The MEMS thermal sensor used convective heat transfer to detect pre-atherosclerotic regions of arteries that otherwise showed no clinical signs of atherosclerosis. Although diet and lifestyle changes can often reverse atherosclerosis in its earliest stages, no real-time means of detecting pre-atherosclerotic regions exists. The MEMS sensor method has the ...

A study reveals the keys to the locomotion of snails

2011-03-08

The main aim of this study, carried out in collaboration with the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and Stanford University (both in the US) is to characterize some aspects of gastropod (snails and slugs) locomotion to basically respond to one question: To what extent do they depend on the physical properties of their mucus to propel themselves forward? This question is fundamental when applying the studied mechanism to the construction of biomimetic robots. "The aim is for the robot to be able to propel itself in any fluid mucus without having to carry its ...

Weak supporting evidence can undermine belief in an outcome

2011-03-08

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Experiments by Brown University psychologists have produced positive evidence that people often think about positive evidence the wrong way — if it is weak. Defying logic, people given weak evidence can regard predictions supported by that evidence as less likely than if they aren't given the evidence at all. The finding, described in a paper published in advance online in the journal Cognition, has serious implications for professional persuaders such as marketers and can help explain public perceptions of policy and the rhetoric ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

iRECODE: A new computational method that brings clarity to single-cell analysis

New NUS-MOH study: Singapore’s healthcare sector carbon emissions 18% lower than expected, a milestone in the city-state’s net zero journey

Type 2 diabetes may accelerate development of multiple chronic diseases, particularly in the early stages, UK Biobank study suggests

1 in 8 Italian cetacean strandings show evidence of fishery interactions, with bottlenose and striped dolphins most commonly affected, according to analysis across four decades of data and more than 5