Ear acupuncture may ease tamoxifen hot flashes.(Gynecology)

EXETER, ENGLAND -- A standardized ear acupuncture protocol effectively reduced hot flashes in women receiving tamoxifen as adjuvant treatment for breast cancer, according to an interim analysis presented at a symposium on alternative and complementary therapies sponsored by the universities of Exeter and Plymouth.

The National Acupuncture and Detoxification Association (NADA) protocol has been used for 30 years to treat withdrawal symptoms in substance abusers, most famously at the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in New York City's South Bronx, Beverley de Valois said.

Ms. de Valois, a Ph.D. candidate at Thames Valley University, London, and a research acupuncturist at the Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre at Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood, had previously done a study of traditional acupuncture for women experiencing adverse effects during tamoxifen treatment. "The results were encouraging, but the methodology is complex and time consuming, and our goal at the center is to make treatment for tamoxifen-related side effects widely and easily available," she said.

There also were some difficulties in administering traditional acupuncture. Needling the limb on the affected side is discouraged because of fears that this might lead to lymphedema, she said. This restriction was ...