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The NIH SoS conference panel chose to address the three other therapies below, which they considered CAM "behavioral interventions." They noted that these treatments may be an important area for further research because they cause few, if any, health problems. However, their effectiveness has not yet been proven through large, well-designed studies.
- Exercise has improved the quality of life in women with menopausal symptoms. However, it has not had any effect on vasomotor symptoms or vaginal dryness.
- Paced respiration (also called paced breathing) is a technique of slow, deep breathing. One small study found that it appeared to be helpful for hot flashes.
- Health education involves educating women about what to expect from menopause and what they themselves can do. It has been found to improve women's knowledge, but not to have effects on menopausal symptoms.
NCCAM supports a number of studies on CAM treatments for menopausal symptoms, as do some of the other institutes and centers at NIH. A few recent examples of NCCAM-funded projects include:
- An initiative to improve measures of hot flashes, which is expected to add to the understanding of hot flashes and to aid future clinical studies A study of whether black cohosh can help with the anxiety that may be experienced as a symptom of menopause A study to identify botanicals from Central America that have been used by the native population for menopausal symptoms and to develop and test standardized extracts from these plants
Several studies looking at the effect of acupuncture on the recurrence and severity of hot flashes in postmenopausal women and other groups that suffer from hot flashes, such as men being treated for prostate cancer
To find out about other research projects, you can consult the CRISP and ClinicalTrials.gov databases.
