Acupuncture is Better than Pills for Breast Cancer Patients

In Breast Cancer Survivors, Acupuncture Better Than Pills for Hot Flashes

Acupuncture appears to be more efficacious than oral medication for treating hot flashes in breast cancer survivors.

Acupuncture appears to be more efficacious than oral medication for treating hot flashes in breast cancer survivors, according to a new trial that compared acupuncture, sham acupuncture, gabapentin, and a placebo pill. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Jun James Mao, M.D., an associate professor of family medicine and community health at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues tested the treatments in 120 women who were breast cancer survivors.

The women were experiencing hot flashes at least twice a day. Thirty women each received either real electroacupuncture or an inactive placebo pill, 32 women got sham acupuncture, and 28 women received gabapentin.

Acupuncture had the greatest effect on overall hot flash scores at eight weeks, when all interventions ended, followed by sham acupuncture and then gabapentin.

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