Acupuncture for hot flashes in postmenopausal hemodialysis-dependent women: two case reports.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to observe the effects of acupuncture for hot flashes in postmenopausal hemodialysis-dependent women.


METHODS
Two postmenopausal hemodialysis-dependent women were treated with individualized manual acupuncture for 1 and 3 months to reduce the occurrence of hot flashes and were observed through 7 and 11 months, respectively, from baseline.


RESULTS
Hot flashes were significantly improved after acupuncture treatment in both of the patients, and the effects persisted through the final observation period (hot flash scores decreased from 57 to 33 and 22 at 1 and 11 months from baseline in patient 1, and from 14 to 6 and zero at 1 and 7 months from baseline in patient 2). The beneficial effects of acupuncture on quality of life were partially observed in these 2 patients. No acupuncture-related serious adverse events occurred during the study.


CONCLUSIONS
Further controlled studies need to be conducted among larger samples to determine whether acupuncture is an effective and safe treatment for hot flashes in postmenopausal hemodialysis-dependent women.
Kim
Kun Hyung
KH
Acupuncture, Moxibustion & Meridian Research Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea.
Na
Seung Yeon
SY
Lee
Myeong Soo
MS
Kim
Se Hyun
SH
Jung
So Young
SY
Choi
Sun Mi
SM
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D019584:Hot Flashes / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D011788:Quality of Life; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016387:Women's Health