Study: Acupuncture - no side effects and cost effective treatment choice for oncology patients.

Recently published study showed acupuncture to be as effective at reducing hot flashes in women with breast cancer as other medication. But acupuncture produced these results without negative side effects.

Dr. Eleanor Walker, MD, director of breast radiation oncology in the Henry Ford Health System, and the lead author of the study, said that patients treated with medications reported experiencing nausea, dry mouth, headache, difficulty sleeping, dizziness, double vision, increased blood pressure, constipation, fatigue, anxiety, feeling “spaced out,” and body jerking during the night.

Patients treated with acupuncture experienced no negative side effects. Instead they reported having more energy, increased sexual desire, being able to think more clearly, and feeling better overall than before treatment.

In addition, Dr. Walker found that acupuncture was a much more cost effective way to treat hot flashes. She reported that patients treated with acupuncture had long lasting effects - lasting up to 3 months after initial treatment, compared to only 2 weeks when using medication.

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