Hormone replacement therapy is mostly suggested for post-menopausal women to reduce symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats. According to experts at King’s College London, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may be an effective treatment option for women who experience conditions like hot flashes.
The prevalence and intensity of night sweats or hot flashes is known to be even more following breast cancer treatment. In the study, women who suffered from frequent hot flashes and night sweats (HFNS) after undergoing breast cancer treatment, were incorporated.
Professor Myra Hunter at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London cited, “Cognitive behavioural therapies are brief, effective, non-medical treatment options for menopausal women that can be delivered by trained health professionals. Our finding that self-help therapies can be as effective as group therapies is very exciting as we are keen to increase access to these kind of psychological therapies.”
The results of the trial showed that women who underwent cognitive behavioral therapies apparently faced reduction in their HFNS effects after a span of 9 weeks. This was not the case with women who experienced usual care. Importantly, these positive outcomes seen in women who engaged in CBT seemed to be consistent till 26 weeks. Also, women undergoing these therapies apparently encountered benefits in other aspects of health like sleep, mood and quality of life.
The team believed that CBT could be provided by trained breast cancer nurses as part of cancer survivorship programs. This report is published in the journal, The Lancet Oncology.