RESUMO
Menopausal syndromes are mostly based on kidney deficiency， which could be expalined that kidney governing essence storage and controlling innateness， so when the kidney water was deficient and the liver fail to nourish， then led to liver depression and transform into fire； deficiency of the kidney， loss of warmth of the spleen， and inability to transport and transform the water and dampness will easily lead to phlegm and fire； the decline of the kidney yin and loss of water and fire will easily cause the exuberance of heart fire. Therefore， clinical symptoms of hot flashes， insomnia， and palpitations are common due to phlegm， depressions， and fire. Based on this， at the beginning of the treatment， we should treat the symptoms firstly by resolving phlegm， relieving depression and clearing fire， and commonly use Huanglian Wendan Decoction （黄连温胆汤）， Yigan Powder （抑肝散）， Chaihu plus Longgu Muli Decoction （柴胡加龙骨牡蛎汤）， and Qingxin Zishen Decoction （清心滋肾饮）， etc. After improving the symptoms of hot flashes and sweating， irritability， dreaming and frightening， then we should give the prescriptions to tonify kidney yang and nourish kidney yin， in order to eliminate the pathogens and reinforce healthy qi， and to treat both the manifestations and the root cause， so that the symptoms of the patients can be better alleviated.
RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>to observe the effect differences and safety between acupuncture and sham acupuncture for female depression on the basis of conventional western medicine therapy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty-two patients with depression who met the criteria were randomly assigned into an observation group and a control group, 21 patients in each group. The basic treatment in the two groups was fluoxetine. The patients in the observation group were treated with acupuncture at Zhongwan (CV 12), Xiawan (CV 10), Qihai (CV 6), Guanyuan (CV 4) and bilateral Shangqu (KI 17). Sham acupuncture was used at the above points in the control group. The treatment was given once a day on the first 3 days and once every 3 days after that, totally for 8 weeks. The scores of self-rating depression scale (SDS) and Montgomery Asberg depression rating scale (MADRS) were compared before and after 4-week and 8-week treatment in the two groups. The effects and adverse reactions were evaluated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After 4-week and 8-week treatment, the SDS and MADRS scores were significantly lower than those before treatment in the two groups (all <0.05), and the scores in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (both <0.05). The improvements of SDS and MADRS scores in the observation group before and after treatment were better than those in the control group (both <0.05). The total effective rates of SDS, MADRS scores were 85.7% (18/21), 90.5% (19/21) in the observation group, which were better than 38.1% (8/21), 57.1% (12/21) in the control group (both <0.05). The adverse reactions in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Acupuncture combined with fluoxetine are effective and safe for female depression.</p>
