Acupuncture for Hot Flushes in Menopause

Inclusion Criteria: * Postmenopausal women (at least one year past the last menstrual period) who are willing to receive acupuncture and who during two weeks of self-completed diaries10 document a mean value of 7 flushes/24 hours or more (or 50 flushes or more over a period of seven consecutive days), will be randomized after a baseline evaluation. * Current users prescribed medications that influence hot flush rate (e. g. HRT, SSRI's) can be included after a washout period. The washout-periods are eight weeks for SSRI's and systemic (including transdermal) HRT and four weeks for local estradiol preparations Exclusion Criteria: * Surgical menopause * History of cancer within the past five years * Use of anticoagulant drugs * Heart valve disease * Poorly controlled hypertension * Hypothyroidism * Hyperthyroidism or diabetes mellitus * Organ transplant * Mental disease * Overt drug or alcohol dependency * Inability to complete study forms