According to ABC 7 news as they approach menopause, many women experience serious symptoms like hot flashes, trouble sleeping and mood swings.
Doctors can prescribe hormone-replacement thapy, but some women are looking for drug-free alternatives.
For menopausal women who don’t want hormone replacement there aren’t a lot of tried-and-true options. There are many drug-free approaches, but most fail to show any benefit. But one new study shows an age-old treatment might be the remedy some women are looking for.
Thirty percent of Brenda Smith’s acupuncture practice is for the treatment of menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, sleep disruptions, fatigue and stress.
“Acupuncture does release endorphins, which helps to regulate stress hormones, and that, as a result, regulates the sex hormones,” said Smith.
Now a new report in the Acupuncture in Medicine journal tried to take a scientific measurement of how this ancient art helps menopausal women.
“Acupuncture is very difficult to quantify, and that’s part of the problem that people have with the results,” said Smith.
In the study, 53 menopausal women were assigned to either 10 acupuncture sessions or 10 placebo sessions. In the placebo sessions they used blunt needles that didn’t actually penetrate the skin.
One of the most troublesome symptoms of menopause is the hormonal weight gain. Dr. O’Toole helps his patients realize that losing weight through diet and exercise does not allow them to target specific troublesome areas. Dr. O’Toole recommends liposuction which will allow him to treat areas such as the upper back ,upper abdomen, and outer thighs where many women have troublesome fat deposits. For some patients Smart Lipo may be an excellent option. This procedure can be performed in the office without putting the patient to sleep.
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