Effect of aerobic exercises versus laser acupuncture in treatment of postmenopausal hot flushes: a randomized controlled trial.
Eman Abdelfatah Mohamed Elhosary, Mahmoud Mohamed Ewidea, Hamada Ahmed Hamada Ahmed and 1 others
PMID 29545706WHAT IT FOUND
After 8 weeks, both aerobic exercise and laser acupuncture reduced FSH, LH, and hot flush severity.
The text says aerobic exercise was superior, but the FSH table shows the laser acupuncture group had the lower value.
Key findings
01Both groups had significant reductions in the primary hormone outcomes, FSH and LH, after treatment.
02The paper's text says the aerobic exercise group had lower FSH and LH than the laser acupuncture group after 8 weeks, but the table shows lower FSH in the laser acupuncture group and lower LH in the aerobic exercise group.
03Both groups had significant reductions in hot flush severity after treatment, and the paper reports lower severity in the aerobic exercise group at 8 weeks.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study had 48 participants from one hospital outpatient clinic, so results may not apply to other settings. No follow-up beyond 8 weeks is reported, so durability is unknown. The primary outcomes were blood FSH and LH levels, not how much the hot flushes bothered the woman. The paper does not give units for FSH and LH, so the clinical meaning of the changes is unclear. The text and table disagree about which group had lower FSH after treatment. This makes the comparison between treatments hard to trust. The study is described as single-blind, but the text does not say who was blinded. Participants were selected for BMI 30 to 32 kg/m2 and had several medical exclusions, so it may not apply to women outside that range. There was no placebo or usual-care control, so the trial cannot show whether either treatment is better than doing nothing. Hot flush severity was recorded by patient diary and subjective categories, so it depends on self-report.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that aerobic exercise is clearly better than laser acupuncture. The primary hormone outcomes improved in both groups, but the text and table disagree about which group had lower FSH, and the hot flush diary was not the primary outcome.