BACKGROUND: Electroacupuncture (EA) may affect the severity of hot flashes (HFs) associated with natural menopause and provide additional benefits for postmenopausal women. However, the evidence for its effectiveness in the management of early postmenopausal HFs remains inadequately understood. OBJECTIVE: We designed this trial to assess the efficacy and safety of EA for relieving early postmenopausal HFs. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS: This randomized sham-controlled trial involved 72 women with HFs. The participants were divided equally into the intervention and control groups. The intervention group was treated with EA, while the control group was treated with sham acupuncture. The main acupoints used were Hegu (LI4), Guanyuan (RN4), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Taixi (KI3), Fuliu (KI7) and Shenshu (BL23). All participants received 18 treatment sessions, distributed across a 6-week period. The treatment was administered on three occasions per week, adhering to a fixed weekday schedule (Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) with a minimum interval of one day between sessions. Each patient received a 12-week follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The HF score was the primary outcome. Participants documented the frequency and severity of HFs in a 7-day symptom diary, which provided data for calculating the HF score. Secondary outcomes were the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Score Scale (TCMSSS), as well as estradiol (E₂), luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels. RESULTS: Both groups demonstrated significant reductions in HF scores after the treatment and during the follow-up (P < 0.001). Immediately after completion of the 6-week treatment cycle and at 12 weeks post-intervention, the HF scores were similar in both groups. At week 6, the intervention group showed significantly greater improvements in MRS, MENQOL (vasomotor, psychosocial, and physical), PSQI and TCMSSS scores (P < 0.05). The improvements in the MENQOL (vasomotor, and psychosocial) and PSQI total scores persisted through the follow-up (P < 0.05). However, the results showed no significant inter- or intragroup differences in sexual scores on the MENQOL (P > 0.05). EA did not significantly decrease E₂, LH or FSH levels compared to placebo. The incidence of adverse events was similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: EA does not significantly improve HFs in early postmenopausal patients. However, it enhances the quality of sleep and decreases menopausal symptoms across vasomotor, psychosocial and physical domains. TRIAL REGISTRATION Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (http://www.chictr.org.cn); Trial ID: ChiCTR2300072002. Please cite this article as: Wang HX, Yu XT, Hu J, Chen JJ, Mei YT, Chen YF. Electroacupuncture for hot flashes in early menopause: A randomized sham-controlled trial. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(5):519-527.
Humans ; Female ; Electroacupuncture ; Hot Flashes/therapy* ; Middle Aged ; Acupuncture Points ; Quality of Life ; Menopause ; Treatment Outcome ; Adult

Professor is a well-known national veteran doctor with over 70 years of clinical experience. He has unique academic thoughts and clinical experience for common diseases and some difficult and complicated diseases. This paper mainly introduces professor 's syndrome-differentiation thought and experience of acupoint selection for hot flashes. It is emphasized that common hot flashes, such as hot flashes and night sweats, are different between and . While regulating and , more attention should be paid to - harmony, which is not only suitable for women's perimenopausal syndrome, but also for a series of clinical diseases caused by refractory drugs such as endocrine therapy after breast cancer surgery. At the same time of acupoint selection based on syndrome differentiation, a more rational prescriptions should be made according to the duration of the disease and the experience acupoints to improve the clinical efficacy.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Breast Neoplasms ; surgery ; Female ; Hot Flashes ; therapy ; Humans ; Syndrome

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of Heyan Kuntai Capsule (, HYKT) and hormone therapy (HT) on perimenopausal syndromes (PMSs).

METHODSFrom 2005 to 2008, 390 women with PMSs were recruited from 4 clinic centers. The inclusion criteria included ages 40 to 60 years, estradiol (E2) below 30 ng/L, and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) above 40 IU/L, etc. The patients were randomly assigned to HYKT group or HT group by random number table method, administrated HYKT or conjugated estrogen with/without medroxyprogesterone acetate tablets for 12 months. During treatment, the patients were interviewed quarterly, Kupperman Menopausal Index (KMI) scores, hot flush scores, insomnia scores, Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) scores and adverse effects were used for evaluating drug efficacy and safety respectively. The last interview was made at the end of 12-month treatment RESULTS: After treatment, KMI scores of HYKT group and HT group were both significantly decreased compared with baseline (P <0.01) and there was no significant difference between groups (P >0.05), except that KMI of HYKT group was higher after 3-month treatment (P <0.05). After treatment, hot flush and insomnia scores were both improved significantly in two groups (P <0.01); and HT had a better performance than HYKT in improving hot flush (P <0.05). MENQOL were significantly improved in both groups after treatment (P <0.01); but there was no significant difference between two groups (P >0.05). The incidence of adverse event in the HYKT group was much lower than that in the HT group (P <0.01).

CONCLUSIONSHYKT could effectively relieve PMSs and improve patients quality of life without severe adverse reactions. Although HYKT exerted curative effects more slowly than hormone, it possessed better safety profile than hormone.

Adult ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Estrogen Replacement Therapy ; Female ; Hot Flashes ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Perimenopause ; drug effects ; Quality of Life ; Treatment Outcome

Menopause is a critical stage of women's life associated with various complaints and distresses. Vasomotor symptoms (VMS), such as hot flushes, night sweats, sleep disturbances, and fatigue, are the most common menopause symptoms affecting about 50% to 80% of middle-aged women. Obviously, these symptoms, resulting from estrogen deficiency during menopause, can exert negative effects on women's health and quality of life and thus require to be managed through approaches such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Many herbal treatments for menopause symptoms contain and its components such as 8-prenylnaringenin, 6-PN, isoxanthohumol and xanthohumol. Recent in-vivo studies have highlighted the ability of 8-prenylnaringenin to reduce serum-luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), to increase serum prolactin levels and uterine weight, and to induce vaginal hyperplastic epithelium. Previous research has shown that hops extract can strongly bind to both estrogen receptors, stimulate alkaline phosphatase activity in Ishikawa cells, and upregulate presenelin-2 and progesterone receptor mRNA in Ishikawa cells. Numerous clinical trials have documented significant reductions in the frequency of hot flushes following the administration of hop-containing preparations. Nevertheless, further clinical trials with larger sample size and longer follow-up are warranted to confirm such benefits.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Epithelium ; Estrogens ; Fatigue ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Hot Flashes ; Humans ; Humulus* ; Menopause ; Prolactin ; Quality of Life ; Receptors, Estrogen ; Receptors, Progesterone ; RNA, Messenger ; Sample Size ; Sweat ; Women's Health

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to identify degrees of pain, menopause symptoms, and quality of life, and to identify factors influencing quality of life of patients with breast cancer who were on hormone therapy. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was utilized. Data were collected using questionnaires from 110 patients with breast cancer who had been on hormone therapy for 3 months or more and were being treated at a university hospital in Seoul. Data were analyzed using chi2-test, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression. RESULTS: Mean age of the participants was 53.56 (SD=6.67) and 54 (51.4%) had stage 0 or I at the time of diagnosis. Most of the participants reported having pain and menopause symptoms (88.2% and 95.5% respectively). The mean score for quality of life was 87.84+/-21.17. Pain, menopause symptoms and quality of life had strong correlations with each other (p<.005). Quality of life was explained by menopause symptoms (beta= -.71), economic status (beta=.20) and occupation (beta=.16). CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggest that menopause symptoms should be incorporated into oncologic nursing care to improve quality of life of patients with breast cancer on hormone therapy.
Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal/therapeutic use ; Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy/*psychology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Hospitals, University ; Hot Flashes ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pain Management ; Postmenopause ; *Quality of Life ; Questionnaires ; Socioeconomic Factors

BACKGROUNDIt is now recognized that Cimicifuga foetida extract is effective in alleviating menopausal symptoms. But the durations reported were usually short. This paper compares the clinical effects of different regimens of three-month course on climacteric symptoms in Chinese women, so as to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Cimicifuga foetida extract.

METHODSThis was a prospective, randomized trial. Ninety-six early menopausal women were recruited and randomly assigned into 3 groups to take different kinds of medicine for 3 months; participants were given Cimicifuga foetida extract daily in group A (n = 32), given estradiol valerate and progesterone capsule cycle sequentially in group B (n = 32), and given estradiol valerate and medroxyprogesterone acetate cycle sequentially in group C (n = 32). The questionnaires of Kupperman menopause index, Menopause-Specific Quality of Life, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were finished before and after the treatment. The status of vaginal bleeding and breast tenderness was recorded every day.

RESULTSEighty-nine participants (89/96, 92.7%) completed the treatment. Kupperman menopause index decreased after taking the medicine for 3 months in each group (with all P < 0.001), but the score after the treatment was higher in group A than in the other 2 groups. Except for the score of sexual domain in group A (P = 0.103), the scores of all domains of the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life decreased significantly after the treatment in all groups (with all P ≤ 0.01). Score of anxiety decreased significantly in group A (P = 0.015) and B (P = 0.003). Incidence of breast tenderness was 12.9% (4/31) in group A, 36.7% (11/30) in group B, and 14.3% (4/28) in group C. Incidence of vaginal bleeding was 6.5% (2/31) in group A, 26.7% (8/30) in group B, and 82.1% (23/28) in group C.

CONCLUSIONSCimicifuga foetida extract is effective and safe in the treatment of menopausal syndrome. It is worth extending its use in the treatment of climacteric complaints, especially among those having contradiction for hormone replacement therapy.

Cimicifuga ; Female ; Hot Flashes ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Menopause ; drug effects ; psychology ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Plant Extracts ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Prospective Studies ; Quality of Life ; Uterine Hemorrhage

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical effects of scraping therapy on perimenopausal syndrome.

METHODSTwenty women with perimenopausal syndrome were treated with scraping therapy and the dorsal course of the Governor Vessell and the Urinary Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyang were scraped, especially on the Back-shu points and Ashi points. The clinical symptoms were observed and compared with a modified Kupperman score before and after treatment.

RESULTSIn all the 20 patients, 3 cases were cured, 6 cases were markedly effective, 9 cases were effective, 2 cases were ineffective, and the total effective rate was 90.0%. The Kupperman total score after treatment of (10.4 +/- 7.5) was significantly lower than the score before treatment of (25.0 +/- 5.3) (P < 0.001), in which, hot flushes and sweating, insomnia, fatigue, paresthesia, anxiety/irritability, hypaphrodisia, urinary system infection, tinnitus, dizziness, memory deterioration and headache were eased significantly (P < 0.001, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe scraping therapy has a good clinical effect on perimenopausal syndrome and can significantly improve the clinical symptoms.

Acupuncture Points ; Dizziness ; therapy ; Female ; Hot Flashes ; therapy ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Meridians ; Middle Aged ; Perimenopause ; physiology ; Sweating ; Treatment Outcome

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Aged ; Asthma ; therapy ; Female ; Hot Flashes ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Menopause ; physiology ; Middle Aged ; Seasons

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Chinese medicine therapy combined with psychological intervention (combined therapy) on the clinical symptoms and levels of blood lipids and sex hormones of patients of peri-menopausal syndrome complicated with hyperlipidemia.

METHODSWith the use of a randomizing digital table method, 185 patients that fit the registration standard were randomly assigned to three groups. The 59 cases in Group A were treated with two Chinese patents, Kunbao Pill and Modified Xiaoyao Pill; the 63 in Group B received psychological intervention alone; and the 63 in Group C were treated with both (the combined therapy), with the treatment course for all six months. The items of observation included: (1) scoring by SCL-90 on eight factors and seven symptoms; (2) scoring on Chinese medicine symptoms by Kupermann scale, including anxiety and bad temper, scorching sense action with sweating, dizziness, tinnitus, soreness and weakness of the loin and knees, palpitation, insomnia, lassitude, weakness, and hyposexuality; (3) blood contents of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apoprotein AI (ApoAI) and B (ApoB); (4) levels of sex hormones, including estradiol (E(2)), progesterone (P), pituitary prolactin (PRL), follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), and), luteinzing hormone (LH) in some randomly selected patients; (5) adverse reaction; and (6) one-year follow-up study on long-term effect.

RESULTSA total of 21 patients (6, 8, and 7 cases in Groups A, B, and C, respectively) dropped out; the drop-out rate was insignificant among groups. (1) The markedly effective rates in Group A, B, and C were 26.42% (14/53), 18.18% (10/55), and 53.57% (30/56), respectively, and the total effective rates in them were 64.15% (34/53), 50.91% (28/55), and 87.50% (49/56), respectively, suggesting the therapeutic efficacy in Group C was significantly better than that in Groups A and B (P<0.01). (2) SCL-90 scoring showed that the total scores decreased significantly after treatment in Group C (P<0.01), but remained unchanged in Groups A and B (P>0.05). (3) Scoring on Chinese medicine symptoms showed the same results as shown by SCL-90 scoring in terms of total scores and individual symptoms, except that menstrual disorder and amenorrhea were unchanged in all three groups (P>0.05). (4) Levels of HDL-C, ApoAI, and E(2) increased and those of TG, TC, LDL-C, ApoB, FSH, and LH decreased after treatment in Group C, reaching near normal levels; similar trends of blood lipids were shown in Group A, but the level of sex hormones was unchanged. In Group B all the above-mentioned indices were unchanged (P>0.05). (5) A one-year follow-up study showed the markedly effective rate and the total effective rate in Group C were higher than those in the other two groups respectively (P<0.01). (6) No adverse reaction was found.

CONCLUSIONChinese medicine therapy combined with psychological intervention could not only improve the nervous symptoms, but also regulate the blood levels of lipids and sex hormones in patients of peri-menopausal syndrome complicated with hyperlipidemia.

Adult ; Anxiety ; complications ; drug therapy ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Hot Flashes ; complications ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; complications ; therapy ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Mood Disorders ; complications ; drug therapy ; Perimenopause ; drug effects ; psychology ; Psychotherapy ; methods ; Research Design ; Syndrome ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Shugan Liangxue Compound (SLC) for relieving hot flashes in breast cancer patients medicated with tamoxifen.

METHODSA randomized, double blind clinical trial for observing the therapeutic effects of SLC was carried out on 73 breast cancer patients hospitalized from October 2004 to November 2006, who were treated with tamoxifen, and revealed hot flashes. They were randomly assigned to two groups, the 37 in the treated group treated by SLC, and the 36 in the control group treated with placebo. Taking the improvement of hot flashes as an end point index and that of sleep as a secondary index, the effects of treatment were compared by Kupperman scoring with the average times of hot flashes per day and condition of sleep within 1 week before treatment as baseline.

RESULTSThe effects on 66 patients (33 in the treated group and 33 in the control group) were evaluable. In the treated group hot flashes disappeared in 5 patients (15.2%), relieved in 14 (42.4%) and unchanged in 14 (42.4%); while in the control group, it disappeared in none, relieved in 10 (30.3%) and unchanged in 23 (69.7%), comparison between groups showed significant difference (P = 0.012). As for the condition of sleep, it was improved in 21 (63.6%) and unchanged in 12 (36.4%) in the treated group; while the condition of sleep in the control group was improved in 13 (39.4%) and unchanged in 20 (60.6%), also with significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONSLC is effective in alleviating tamoxifen-induced hot flashes and improving the condition of sleep.

Adult ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Double-Blind Method ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hot Flashes ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Sleep ; Tamoxifen ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use