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“Brain Fog” and Hormone Levels During Menopause Improve Markedly From Acupuncture Treatment

For many women, menopause is a difficult time. Mood swings, weight gain, depression, night sweats, hot flashes, forgetfulness – these symptoms and more can make life miserable. For some women, menopause comes and goes in a hurry. Unfortunately, for many more, the entire process can take as long as five years.

One of the symptoms of the process of menopause that is often mentioned is “brain fog.” This condition is accompanied by fluctuations in hormone levels. Symptoms may be alleviated by replacement hormones, but some of these drugs have turned out to be dangerous. Specifically, Equilin, Estradiol, Estrone and Mestranol were found to be carcinogenic after they had been prescribed to women for years.

Fortunately, a far less invasive form of treatment has been developed using Traditional Chinese Medicine. In Beijing, this treatment was tested on thirty-five women with thirty more women with similar symptoms serving as a control group. After 24 treatments over 4 weeks, the Acupuncture treatment was found to be more effective than medicine. 

In the Acupuncture group, 12 cases were fully recovered, 16 cases improved “markedly,” and 6 cases improved. The total effective rate was calculated as high as 97.14 percent. Only one patient did not show any significant improvement.

What is even better is that medical tests of the hormone levels of these women confirmed that they weren’t just feeling better and thinking more clearly, their bodies and hormone levels had actually changed. Hormone tests after the course of treatment showed a shift of key menopausal-related hormone levels to more normal ranges.

At the Wahls of Wellness, we add herbal therapies to this program of treatment.  The combination of herbs and acupuncture, along with essential oils and aromatherapy (when indicated) as well as working with women to enhance their inner HealingSpirit, offers the possibility of even more improvement in the lack of mental clarity and in reducing hot flashes and night sweats—those common symptoms that are so often associated with menopause.

Source: Perimenopausal Brain Fog, Acupuncture and Herbs to Stimulate Brain Activity, May 2005, http://www.itmonline.org/arts/brainfog.htm
Source: Menopause article, 18 December 2009, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000894.htm
Source: TOXNET article on Estradiol, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~pqhcYF:1, 1999
Source: TOXNET article on Mestranol, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~xKhEH8:1, 1999
Source:     TOXNET article on Estrone, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~QaQVi0:1, 2005