A recent cross-sectional analysis in the multiethnic Study of Women ’s Health Across the Nation found that 53 % of the participants used some form of CAM ( excluding diet , vitamins , exercise , and prayer ) and that rates of use generally did not vary by menopausal status or by presence of vasomotor symptoms .
Significant improvements were also found in sleep quality ( P = 0.02 ) and
I n the wake of serious health concerns raised by the Women ’s Health Initiative and Heart and Estrogen/ progestin Replacement Study clinical trials , prescriptions for hormone therapy have declined dramatically , leaving many women without effective treatment for menopausal symptoms .
Several nonhormonal pharmacologic therapies have shown promise for reducing vasomotor symptoms , including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors , gabapentin , and clonidine .
However , most are only modestly effective , and all have side effects that may limit their use .
A number of herbal therapies are marketed to women as being safe and effective in reducing menopausal symptoms , including phytoestrogens , black cohosh , dong quai , evening primrose oil , and red clover .
Still , interest in nonhormonal and particularly in complementary and alternative medicine ( CAM ) therapies for menopausal symptoms remains strong .
The term yoga is derived from the Sanskrit term yuj , meaning Bto yoke^ or Bto unite,^ and the goal of yoga has been described as uniting the body and mind to achieve enlightenment .
Yoga has become increasingly popular outside of India , with a 2008 survey of 5,050 people estimating that 7 % of US adults practice yoga .
Clinical trials have also demonstrated many potential health benefits of yoga , including reductions in blood pressure , dyslipidemia , and insulin resistance .
Although the exact mechanisms of hot flashes remain unknown , physiologic studies have demonstrated that heightened sympathetic nervous system activity plays an important role .
Small uncontrolled studies have shown that yoga increases heart rate variability and decreases oxygen consumption , heart rate , and blood pressure , all indicative of decreased sympathetic activity .
In addition to its biological effects , yoga may also have beneficial psychological effects that could lead women to find physical symptoms less bothersome and /or help them to cope better with changes during menopause .
In this issue of Menopause , Chattha and colleagues report results from one of the largest published trials of yoga for menopausal symptoms .
Despite the increasing popularity of yoga , a yoga intervention requiring 60 minutes of supervised instruction five times per week may not be practical for many Western women .
Is sternal skin conductance monitoring a valid measure of hot flash intensity or distress?
Objective : To examine the validity of using sternal skin conductance monitoring as a measure of hot flash intensity and hot flash distress . Design : Descriptive , prospect i ve , longitudinal data from the 2-week baseline of a larger hot flash intervention study ; 73 breast cancer survivors with daily hot flashes wore a hot flash monitor  and completed a hot flash diary  during two 24-hour assessment periods that were separated in time by 1 week . Results : Data consisted of 569 diary rated hot flashes  ; 46.9 % had magnitude of less than 2.0 micromhos ( insufficient to meet objective hot flash criterion ) and 26.3 % had magnitude of 0.0 micromho ( no change in skin conductance ) . Results from mixed-linear modeling indicated that , although magnitude significantly predicted hot flash intensity and distress , effect sizes were very small : less than 2 % when using all observations , and less than 1 % when using only the subset meeting objective hot flash criteria . Even after adjusting for covariates that were associated with intensity or distress , magnitude explained very little variance in intensity or distress ( < 2.2 % ) . Scatterplots and locally weighted smooth regression curves also revealed very little relationship between magnitude and either intensity or distress . Conclusions : Findings indicate that objective change in sternal skin conductance , an indicator of sweat gl and activity , should not be used as a proxy measure of subjective hot flash intensity or distress . Future research should continue to subjectively measure hot flash intensity and distress when these are important outcome variables to consider
A recent cross-sectional analysis in the multiethnic Study of Women ’s Health Across the Nation found that 53 % of the participants used some form of CAM ( excluding diet , vitamins , exercise , and prayer ) and that rates of use generally did not vary by menopausal status or by presence of vasomotor symptoms .
Significant improvements were also found in sleep quality ( P = 0.02 ) and
I n the wake of serious health concerns raised by the Women ’s Health Initiative and Heart and Estrogen/ progestin Replacement Study clinical trials , prescriptions for hormone therapy have declined dramatically , leaving many women without effective treatment for menopausal symptoms .
Several nonhormonal pharmacologic therapies have shown promise for reducing vasomotor symptoms , including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors , gabapentin , and clonidine .
However , most are only modestly effective , and all have side effects that may limit their use .
A number of herbal therapies are marketed to women as being safe and effective in reducing menopausal symptoms , including phytoestrogens , black cohosh , dong quai , evening primrose oil , and red clover .
Still , interest in nonhormonal and particularly in complementary and alternative medicine ( CAM ) therapies for menopausal symptoms remains strong .
The term yoga is derived from the Sanskrit term yuj , meaning Bto yoke^ or Bto unite,^ and the goal of yoga has been described as uniting the body and mind to achieve enlightenment .
Yoga has become increasingly popular outside of India , with a 2008 survey of 5,050 people estimating that 7 % of US adults practice yoga .
Clinical trials have also demonstrated many potential health benefits of yoga , including reductions in blood pressure , dyslipidemia , and insulin resistance .
Although the exact mechanisms of hot flashes remain unknown , physiologic studies have demonstrated that heightened sympathetic nervous system activity plays an important role .
Small uncontrolled studies have shown that yoga increases heart rate variability and decreases oxygen consumption , heart rate , and blood pressure , all indicative of decreased sympathetic activity .
In addition to its biological effects , yoga may also have beneficial psychological effects that could lead women to find physical symptoms less bothersome and /or help them to cope better with changes during menopause .
In this issue of Menopause , Chattha and colleagues report results from one of the largest published trials of yoga for menopausal symptoms .
Despite the increasing popularity of yoga , a yoga intervention requiring 60 minutes of supervised instruction five times per week may not be practical for many Western women .