Acupuncture Reduces Painful Side Effects of Breast Cancer Treatments

See Video and short article from ABC World News Tonight an interview with the studies lead author, Dr. Eleanor Walker, Radiation Oncologist

click on title of article to see the video.  

For an article about the study click here.  

Acupuncture relieves hot flushes in breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen

Berlin, Germany: Acupuncture provides effective relief from hot flushes in women who are being treated with the anti-oestrogen tamoxifen following surgery for breast cancer, according to new research presented today (Friday) at the 6th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-6) in Berlin.

Mrs Jill Hervik, a physiotherapist and acupuncturist at the Vestfold Central Hospital (T�nsberg, Norway), told a news briefing that breast cancer patients who received traditional Chinese acupuncture had a 50% reduction in hot flushes, both during the day and the night, and that this effect continued after the acupuncture ceased.

Other recent post-breast cancer acupuncture studies:
Randomized, controlled trial of acupuncture for the treatment of hot flashes in breast cancer patients.

search http:www.pubmed.com for more studies.

Acupuncture Works Really Well for Hot Flashes

This comes from a syndicated column that I found from the People's Pharmacy. I have seen their Q and A column in the LA Times Health Secotion every Monday.

A woman writes in:

I have had such success with an alternative therapy that I wanted to get the word out.

I was a premenopausal breast-cancer patient two years ago. My tumor was estrogen positive, so I have to avoid any sort of estrogen compound, including plant-based estrogen products. (It is still not known if plant-based estrogen could hurt someone with my type of breast cancer.)

I take tamoxifen to prevent a cancer recurrence. This drug acts as an "anti-estrogen" in breast tissue.

I was thrown into chemical menopause after chemotherapy and have experienced symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and bone and joint pain.

I just tried acupuncture (four sessions so far) and have had unbelievable success in curbing hot flashes and night sweats. My daytime hot flashes have virtually disappeared. The night sweats still occur occasionally, but much less often than before. As a result, my sleep is much improved, and I am not waking up in the middle of the night.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Acupuncture has been used for a range of conditions. We were unaware that it might be helpful for hot flashes.

Now the folks at the People's Pharmacy know and so do you.