News & research updates

A selection of research news on acupuncture and women’s health that we have shared with patients over the years.

• Oct 2025
  Period pain relief that lasts beyond treatment. A systematic review of 14 clinical trials (970 women) in the Journal of Pain Research found acupuncture reduced period pain, with benefits persisting for up to three menstrual cycles after the course of treatment had finished.
• Aug 2025
  Acupuncture on its own may ease endometriosis pain. A meta-analysis of nine randomised trials (535 patients), published in the journal Medicine, found acupuncture used alone significantly reduced endometriosis-related pain compared with control treatments.
• Jul 2025
  Electroacupuncture improves sleep after menopause. A randomised sham-controlled trial in early postmenopausal women found electroacupuncture improved sleep quality and overall menopausal symptom scores, though hot flush frequency itself was similar between the two groups.
• May 2025
  WHO adopts a new global traditional medicine strategy. At the 78th World Health Assembly, member states adopted the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 — a ten-year roadmap for integrating safe, evidence-based traditional medicine, including acupuncture and herbal medicine, into health systems worldwide.
• Oct 2024
  Comparing acupuncture-related therapies for endometriosis. A network meta-analysis of 42 trials (3,635 participants) compared six acupuncture-related therapies for endometriosis and found that combining therapies was more effective for pain than medication alone.
• Aug 2024
  Herbal formulas and menopausal sleep problems. A review of 70 randomised trials (6,035 women) found traditional East Asian herbal medicine improved sleep quality in menopausal women with sleep disturbance, with fewer reported side effects than conventional sleeping medication.
• Aug 2019
  Ovarian cancer drug approved for newly diagnosed patients. A drug for advanced ovarian cancer (olaparib) was approved for use in newly diagnosed patients after trials showed it may delay progression of the disease.
• Jul 2019
  Acupuncture may ease troublesome menopause symptoms. A Danish study suggested a brief course of acupuncture may help reduce hot flushes, night sweats and sleep disturbance for some women.
• Dec 2018
  Acupuncture research growing fast. Analysis found research into acupuncture has grown at roughly twice the rate of conventional biomedical research, with over 13,000 studies worldwide.
• Oct 2018
  Acupuncture and postnatal depression. A study reported acupuncture showed effectiveness comparable to fluoxetine in treating postnatal depression.
• Sep 2018
  WHO to recognise traditional medicine. The World Health Organization announced plans to include traditional medicine in its global medical classification system.
• Jun 2017
  Acupuncture and urinary incontinence. A clinical trial found acupuncture significantly reduced urine leakage compared with control groups.
• Dec 2016
  High patient satisfaction. A survey of 89,000 acupuncture patients reported satisfaction levels exceeding conventional care benchmarks.
• Oct 2016
  Hot flushes halved. Research found acupuncture could reduce menopausal hot flushes by approximately 50% for some women.