• Baylor researchers find hypnosis helpful in reducing postmenopausal hot flashes

    FireA new study from Baylor researchers holds promise for women suffering through postmenopausal hot flashes.

    The researchers in Baylor’s Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory found that clinical hypnosis can effectively reduce hot flashes and related symptoms. In the study, published this fall in Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society, such symptoms were reduced as much as 80 percent.

    Other treatments, such as hormones and antidepressants, have similar or better reduction rates, but come with several side effects such as increased risk of cancer or heart disease. The findings were quickly picked up by media outlets ranging from The Atlantic to WebMD.

    Researchers involved in the study included Dr. Gary Elkins, professor of psychology and neuroscience in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences and director of the Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory, and Baylor doctoral candidates William Fisher and Aimee Johnson.

    Sic ’em, Baylor researchers!