School of Being Healthy

According to a British study, a few sessions of behavioral therapy, even a “self-help” version, could help some women find relief from menopausal hot flashes.  More than two-thirds of the women who underwent, through group sessions or self-help, had a “clinically significant” drop in problems related to hot flashes and night sweats, after six weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy. “These results suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy delivered in group or self-help format is an effective treatment option for women during the menopause transition and postmenopause with problematic hot flashes/night sweats,” wrote senior researcher Myra Hunter, at King’s College London. Hunter said the therapy “involves developing helpful, accepting approaches to hot flashes and also using breathing exercises to focus attention away from the flashes and negative thoughts.” “Women say that they might still have hot flashes but not notice them, and then they feel more confident about coping with them,” Hunter said.…