Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trials of venlafaxine for hot flashes after breast cancer.

Background: Although venlafaxine reduces self-reported hot flashes, no data have established the drug's impact on physiologically documented hot flashes. Two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trials examined the efficacy of two doses of venlafaxine in relation to physiological and self-reported hot flashes and other outcomes, including negative affect, fatigue, sleep, and quality of life.

Sample: 57 breast cancer survivors in the low-dose study; 20 in the high-dose study.

Methodological issues in the investigation of ginseng as an intervention for fatigue.

Background: Although literature suggests that fatigue is commonly reported by women during and after breast cancer treatment, treatment options are limited. Although ginseng is widely used in Asian countries as a tonic to increase energy, its efficacy for treating cancer-related fatigue has not been carefully studied. We conducted a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility of a larger clinical trial to investigate the efficacy of ginseng for treating breast cancer-related fatigue.

Sleep, fatigue, and depressive symptoms in breast cancer survivors and matched healthy women experiencing hot flashes.

Purposes/objectives: To compare sleep quality and disturbance, fatigue, and depressive symptoms between breast cancer survivors and healthy women experiencing hot flashes and to examine relationships among sleep and remaining variables (fatigue, depressive symptoms, and frequency of hot flashes).

Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive, comparative pilot study.

Setting: University-based outpatient setting.