Acupuncture for Menopausal Hot Flashes
Authors: Ana Maria Lopez, Angela Presson, Annie Budhathoki, Shelley White
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2016)

Letters20 September 2016Acupuncture for Menopausal Hot FlashesAna Maria Lopez, MD, MPH, Angela Presson, PhD, Annie Budhathoki, MSTOM, LAc, and Shelley White, LCSWAna Maria Lopez, MD, MPHFrom Huntsman Cancer Institute and University of Utah Health Sciences, Salt Lake City, Utah.Search for more papers by this author, Angela Presson, PhDFrom Huntsman Cancer Institute and University of Utah Health Sciences, Salt Lake City, Utah.Search for more papers by this author, Annie Budhathoki, MSTOM, LAcFrom Huntsman Cancer Institute and University of Utah Health Sciences, Salt Lake City, Utah.Search for more papers by this author, and Shelley White, LCSWFrom Huntsman Cancer Institute and University of Utah Health Sciences, Salt Lake City, Utah.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L16-0199 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:We commend Ee and colleagues for tackling 2 challenging topics—the clinically elusive pathophysiology and optimum treatment of menopausal HFs (1, 2) and the methodologically problematic assessment of acupuncture with sham acupuncture (3). The authors conclude, “Chinese medicine acupuncture was not superior to noninsertive sham acupuncture for moderately severe menopausal HFs.” The general takeaway interpretation has been that acupuncture is ineffective for HFs. We would like to revisit this conclusion.The authors note that limiting Chinese medicine to a standard acupuncture protocol does not mirror standard clinical practice and that developing and implementing a true placebo is difficult. ...References1. Ee C, Xue C, Chondros P, Myers SP, French SD, Teede H, et al. Acupuncture for menopausal hot flashes: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2016;164:146-54. [PMID: 26784863]. doi:10.7326/M15-1380 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Morrow PK, Mattair DN, Hortobagyi GN. Hot flashes: a review of pathophysiology and treatment modalities. Oncologist. 2011;16:1658-64. [PMID: 22042786] doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2011-0174 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Dincer F, Linde K. Sham interventions in randomized clinical trials of acupuncture—a review. Complement Ther Med. 2003;11:235-42. [PMID: 15022656] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Dodin S, Blanchet C, Marc I, Ernst E, Wu T, Vaillancourt C, et al. Acupuncture for menopausal hot flushes. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013:CD007410. [PMID: 23897589] doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007410.pub2 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Nelson HD, Vesco KK, Haney E, Fu R, Nedrow A, Miller J, et al. Nonhormonal therapies for menopausal hot flashes: systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2006;295:2057-71. [PMID: 16670414] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Huntsman Cancer Institute and University of Utah Health Sciences, Salt Lake City, Utah.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L16-0199. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoAcupuncture for Menopausal Hot Flashes Carolyn Ee , Charlie Xue , Patty Chondros , Stephen P. Myers , Simon D. French , Helena Teede , and Marie Pirotta Acupuncture for Menopausal Hot Flashes Nobuari Takakura , Miho Takayama , and Hiroyoshi Yajima Acupuncture for Menopausal Hot Flashes John Varner Acupuncture for Menopausal Hot Flashes Carolyn Ee , Charlie Xue , and Marie Pirotta Metrics 20 September 2016Volume 165, Issue 6Page: 449-450KeywordsAcupunctureDisclosure ePublished: 20 September 2016 Issue Published: 20 September 2016 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2016 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...