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Research Archive

Welcome to our Chinese medicine and acupuncture research news pages. We add to the content of these pages continuously as more research news comes in. Browse through the complete archive below or use the category links on the right.

Please note that the most twenty recent research archive items are free to view but access to the thousands of items in the archive require a journal subscription.

SERUM CORRELATES OF ACUPUNCTURE PLACEBO EFFECT IN IBS

Categories: Digestive & Bowel disorders

A US group has discovered two measurable biological parameters associated with the placebo response to acupuncture for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In a previous study by the same group, patients with IBS were randomised to either placebo treatment (using a sham acupuncture device at non-acupoints) or a no-treatment group (waitlist). The new study involved testing a panel of 10 serum biomarkers ...

Needling good for achille's heel

Categories: Miscellaneous, Foot

Acupuncture enhances blood flow and oxygen supply to the Achilles tendon in healthy volunteers. In a crossover trial nine volunteers received treatment of the Achilles tendon with 10 minutes of either acupuncture or a heat pack. During needle insertion, the blood volume and oxygen saturation of the tendon increased significantly compared to pre-treatment levels, and these values remained high thro ...

SP-3 affects autonomic cardiovascular responses

Categories: Heart / Cardiac

Acupuncture at Taibai SP-3 affects the autonomic control of blood flow by enhancing parasympathetic function. In a randomised crossover trial, five healthy volunteers received acupuncture at either Taibai SP-3 or Rangu KID-2 for five minutes. Ultrasound measurements of blood flow were recorded at the radial artery before, during and after acupuncture stimulation. Cardiovascular autonomic data (mea ...

Neiguan P-6 affects brain's balance centres

Categories: Neurological, Acupuncture research

More evidence for the neural specificity of particular acupuncture points comes from a Chinese study that used fMRI to investigate the effects of acupuncture at Neiguan P-6. fMRI was performed on the brains of 36 healthy subjects while they received acupuncture at Neiguan P-6 and two control points (Daling P-7 and Guangming GB-37). Needling at Neiguan P-6 caused extensive signal decreases (deactiv ...

Acupuncture for hypertension

Categories: Hypertension

Korean authors have carried out a systematic review of acupuncture for the treatment of essential hypertension. Twenty trials were included, of which only three were considered relatively rigorous. Acupuncture achieved significant effect modification on blood pressure compared with controls. In the high-quality trials, blood pressure was significantly lower with acupuncture plus antihypertensive d ...

Acupuncture effective post-stroke

Categories: Stroke

A systematic review and meta-analysis from Canada demonstrates that acupuncture may be an effective treatment for post-stroke rehabilitation. Thirty-five articles written in Chinese and 21 written in English were included. The overall quality of the studies was judged as fair, and most studies were small. The majority (80%) of studies reported a significant benefit from acupuncture, although many ...

Acupuncture reduces dental anxiety

Categories: Psychological / emotional, Dental

Having acupuncture before dental treatment can reduce patient's anxiety, according to Swedish authors. Eight dentists (all members of the British Dental Acupuncture Society) submitted case reports. Twenty patients, all in their 40s, had experienced problems with dental anxiety for two to 30 years. All were assessed as moderately to severely anxious using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), with a me ...

Electroacupuncture improves sleep architecture

Categories: Psychological / emotional

The beneficial effects of acupuncture on chronic insomniacs' sleep quality and daytime social functioning are associated with measurable changes to sleep architecture (the cyclical pattern of the stages of sleep). Forty-seven Chinese patients received four courses of electroacupuncture (EA) treatment in a cohort study. Sleep quality index scores were used to evaluate subjective sleep quality, whil ...

Acupuncture protects the heart during surgery

Categories: Heart / Cardiac

Acupuncture pre-treatment can help prevent damage to the heart during valve replacement operations. Reperfusion injury (damage to tissue caused when blood supply returns after a period of ischaemia) contributes to postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing open-heart surgery. In a new Chinese study, 60 patients were randomly allocated to electroacupuncture (EA) pre-treatment or a ...

MOXIBUSTION AND ACUPUNCTURE NO BENEFIT FOR BREECH OR ART

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

A Swiss study of moxibustion for breech version has found no beneficial effect. The RCT, involving 212 women between 34 and 36 weeks gestation, compared two weeks of daily moxibustion at BL-67 with expectant management. The percentage of external cephalic versions was similar between the two groups (18% for moxibustion vs 16% for the control group) and the frequency of caesarean delivery was simil ...

ACUPUNCTURE EFFECT ON HOT FLUSHES NOT SUSTAINED

Categories: Gynaecology, Menopausal syndrome

A follow-up study on acupuncture for menopausal hot flushes has reported that the benefits found immediately post-treatment do not persist. An earlier study of 267 postmenopausal women found that 12 weeks of individualised acupuncture plus self-care produced a clinically relevant reduction in hot flushes and increased health-related quality of life compared with self-care alone. The new study foun ...

Acupuncture better than drugs for cancer hot flushes

Categories: Gynaecology, Menopausal syndrome

Not only is acupuncture as effective as drug therapy at preventing hot flushes in breast cancer patients who have been receiving long-term anti-oestrogen therapy, it also increases women's sex drive and improves their sense of well-being. Venlafaxine (Effexor - a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) - the therapy of choice for such symptoms - has numerous adverse effects. An American team rando ...

Acupuncture good for period pain

Categories: Gynaecology, Gynaecological

Authors of a Korean systematic review have found promising evidence for the use of acupuncture in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea. Twenty-seven RCTs (data from nearly 3000 women) were included in their analysis, which showed that, compared with pharmacological treatment or herbal medicine, acupuncture was associated with a significant reduction in pain. Two RCTs that compared acupuncture wi ...

Acupuncture for allergic rhinitis

Categories: Hay fever, Nose and mouth, Allergies

A group from Taiwan has assessed the effect of acupuncture on clinical outcomes and gene expression profiles of patients suffering from perennial allergic rhinitis and found differences between atopic and non-atopic cases. The Phadiatop test was used to classify 21 patients with allergic rhinitis as either atopic (Ph+) or non-atopic (Ph-). All patients received eight sessions of acupuncture treatm ...

Acupuncture reduces allergic itching

Categories: Skin / dermatology, Allergies

Acupuncture can significantly reduce itching in patients with atopic eczema. A German study has investigated the effect of acupuncture on type I hypersensitivity itch and skin reaction in a crossover RCT. An allergen stimulus was applied to the skin of 30 patients with atopic eczema before (direct approach) and after (preventive approach) the following treatments: acupuncture at Quchi L.I.-11 and ...

Acupuncture for fibromyalgia

Categories: Fibromyaigia

German authors have systematically reviewed the efficacy of acupuncture for fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Seven RCTs (385 patients) with a median treatment time of nine sessions were included. Strong evidence for reduction of pain was found immediately post-treatment, although this was only present in studies judged to be at risk of bias. There was no evidence for reduction of fatigue or sleep dist ...

PSYCHIATRIC CONDITIONS DON'T AFFECT RESPONSE TO ACUPUNCTURE

Categories: Psychological / emotional

American researchers report that psychiatric comorbidity does not affect response to acupuncture treatment for chronic low back pain (CLBP), nor does it modify the effect of expectations on acupuncture response. In a controlled, blinded crossover trial verum acupuncture at Hegu L.I.-4 was compared with validated sham acupuncture in 40 CLBP patients, who were divided into two groups with a low or h ...

ACUPUNCTURE MINIMALLY BENEFICIAL FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS

Categories: Arthritis

The latest systematic review to assess the effects of acupuncture for treating peripheral joint osteoarthritis (OA) has concluded that although there is evidence of benefit, it is probably not clinically relevant and may be partially due to placebo effects. The German authors included 16 trials involving 3498 people in their analysis. In comparison with a sham control, acupuncture showed statistic ...

ACUPUNCTURE MAKES WALKING EASIER

Categories: Knee

Walking gait patterns in knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients are significantly improved after acupuncture, probably due to pain relief, according to Taiwanese researchers. Twenty patients with bilateral medial knee OA were randomly assigned either to a standard 30-minute electro-acupuncture treatment or a sham treatment. Visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores decreased significantly after acupuncture ...

Acupuncture helps with temporomandibular disorders

Categories: Temperomandibular / Jaw

Needling active myofascial trigger points (TrPs) in the jaw muscles of patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) increases pain tolerance and improves jaw-opening ability, according to research carried out in Spain. Twelve female TMD patients attended two treatment sessions on separate days and at each visit were randomly assigned to receive either deep or sham needling at the most painful ...