ABC World News:Acupuncture May Curb Severity of Hot Flashes
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 9:30AM 
Acupuncture May Provide Relief for Menopause Symptoms
Nielsen said that after a series of treatments, women experiencing menopausal symptoms generally "start to feel much more relaxed -- the anxiety is also associated with hot flashes."
By the second or third treatment, she said, patients come in and say, "Actually I'm not hot flashing during the day anymore, maybe a couple at night, and then that starts to decline as well."
Menopause is the latest use of the 2,000 year-old Chinese tradition -- it's already being used to reduce symptoms related to arthritis, back, neck, knee and shoulder pain, and anxiety.
At the Mayo Clinic, acupuncture is part of the standard of care for all patients in the Joint Replacement Center. Doctors there are also involved in their own trial of the benefits of acupuncture for hot flashes.
Researchers suggest the reason why acupuncture may work for women suffering from hot flashes is that the treatment is able to boost the production of endorphins and that could help stabilize body temperature.
Authors of this study caution that their sample size was very small, and they did not follow up with patients after treatment, so they do not know if the positive effects of acupuncture continue.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/study-shows-acupuncture-curb-severity-hot-flashes-menopause/story?id=13075594&page=2