title: Acupuncture for hot flashes in postmenopausal hemodialysis-dependent women: two case reports.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Acupuncture, Moxibustion & Meridian Research Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Kun Hyung
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Na
authors.forename: Myeong Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Se Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: So Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Sun Mi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: 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