Acupuncture for Insomnia

The largest study on acupuncture and insomnia to date found acupuncture to be more effective than orthodox sleeping medications in improving your sleep and relieving insomnia. The researchers also found that combining acupuncture with medication was more beneficial than medication alone. Acupuncture plus herbs also improved sleep better than herbs alone.

This study (meta-analysis) included 46 randomized trials and 3811 patients. It was published The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

The bottom line:

The most common solution your doctor will offer for insomnia is sleeping pills. Unfortunately the sleeping pills are addictive and their effect diminishes with time. Furthermore, sleeping pills don't give you quality sleep and have a sedative effect, which may affect your performance during the day as well as driving. Acupuncture offers a superior alternative to sleeping medications. Acupuncture does not have the side effects of the sleeping pills and it is more effective in treatment of insomnia.

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Edometriosis: Chinese medicine superior to conventional medication?

Chinese herbal medicine following laparoscopic surgery in Endometriosis patients achieved better symptom controll compared to conventinal medication danazol and was comparable to gestrinone. Furthermore, it the patients taking Chinese medicine reported fewer side-effects. The pregnancy rate was similar with either treatment.

Andrew Flower, PhD, of Southampton University in Ringmer, England, reported the findings in the Cochrane Reviews.

Asthma and stress link explains how acupuncture may help

I don't see many asthma sufferers in my clinic. I do see many patients affected by stress, anxiety and depression. Some of these patients also suffer from asthma and often tell me that their asthma improves significantly following acupuncture treatment. I used to get surprised by this, as studies on acupuncture and asthma provide mixed results.

Now at last I think I found an explanation for this. If you are prone to anxiety, your chances of developing asthma are tripled. This is the conclusion of a study on 4000 adults published in Journal of Allergy this month. Chronic stress alters hormone levels, which can lead to inflamed airways. Acupuncture has been shown to regulate stress hormones; it is an effective treatment for anxiety.

This contributes to understanding the pathophysiology of asthma. But it also explains how acupuncture may help asthma sufferers. It may be the reason why some acupuncture treatment protocols work better than others; and help to design studies which could actually provide some hard evidence for the practice.
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Fertility, IVF and Acupuncture books

Among the good strategies of dealing with stress of infertility and IVF (apart from acupuncture, of course!) is getting more information about your condition and what you can do.

Another one is reading stories of people who have been in your situation. I can recommend you a couple of good books.

One, The Infertility Cure, is on acupuncture and infertility, but it also gives you a good roundup of diet and other things you can do yourself.
Another one recommended by one of my patients, is Legs Up and Laughing. In this book Vanessa Bates takes you on her "Big Great Fertility Ride". This one is for you AND your partner.

Do you have a suggestion? Let us know in the comments.

Acupuncture for hay fever

A seriously large controlled trial on acupuncture and allergic rhinitis or hay fever was performed in Germany by Charité University.

4,743 of 5,237 patients suffering from allergic rhinitis patients received 15 acupuncture sessions. 494 patients were assigned to control group.

The researchers used Rhinitis Quality of Life Questionnaire evaluate the results after three and six moths following the acupuncture.

The researchers conclude that treating patients with allergic rhinitis in routine care with additional acupuncture leads to clinically relevant and persistent benefits.

The study was published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

Acupuncture Carpal Tunnel

A group of researchers from Department of Neurology, Kuang Tien General Hospital in Taiwan decided to compare the efficacy of acupuncture and steroid treatment in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.

They found acupuncture to be as effective as steroids and improved symptoms such as pain, numbness, tingling, weakness and clumsiness. Acupuncture improved sleep and was significantly better than corticosteroids at reducing awakening at night experienced by carpal tunnel patients.

Mayo Clinic: Because oral corticosteroids affect your entire body instead of a particular area, this form is the most likely to cause significant side effects. Side effects depend on the dose of medication you receive. Within days or weeks of starting oral therapy, you may have an increased risk of:

• Elevated pressure in the eyes (glaucoma)
• Fluid retention, causing swelling in your lower legs
• Increased blood pressure
• Mood swings
• Weight gain, with fat deposits in your abdomen, face and the back of your neck

Acupuncture is very safe when administered by a qualified practitioner. Side effects are extremely rare and usually mild. It is a clear winner, especially for patients who are health conscious or can not tolerate steroid treatment.

Reference: The Clinical journal of pain, 2009 May, Mayo clinic
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Acupuncture for Neck Pain

Quality science supporting the acupuncture use for neck pain is catching up with the practice. A systematic review by scientists from Cochrane collaboration confirmed that acupuncture is significantly more effective than sham acupuncture for neck pain relief.
The scientists from Southern California University performed nine meta-analyses. Seven of them yielded positive results.

The systematic review was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2009 Feb 13.

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Acupuncture Diabetes: acupuncture improves memory impaired by diabetes

Electro-acupuncture restores learning and memory impairment induced by both diabetes mellitus and cerebral ischemia in rats, conclude researchers from Beijing.

Previous studies have shown electro-acupuncture can improve peripheral neuropathy and diabetic encephalopathy. If you are suffering from diabetes, acupuncture is a word to remember!

Recent studies have shown maternal diabetes to be linked to infant memory problems. Currently there are no studies to show that acupuncture will reduce the risk for the infant, but considering the possible benefit and minimal side effects, obstetricians and midwifes should consider discussing acupuncture with their diabetic patients.

The study was conducted by scientists from China Academy of Chinese Medical Science in Beijing.

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Acupuncture weight loss

In a study published in the current issue of International Journal of Obesity, researchers found acupuncture was effective and significantly reduced body weight in obese patients. The researchers compared acupuncture to placebo or sham treatments. Acupuncture also showed more improved outcomes than conventional medication.

My comment: Maintaining optimal weight for otherwise healthy individuals has numerous health benefits. This study shows acupuncture to be helpful as a treatment for obesity. This study focused on obese patients. I believe that acupuncture may help to normalise the body weight (ie decrease or increase it). Acupuncture should not be seen as a replacement for a healthy eating habits and exercise. It may be helpful in restoring the healthy lifestyle by decreasing anxiety, stress, regulating appetite, relieving depression, increasing motivation (including motivation to exercise) and improving quality of sleep.
In my clinic I see numerous fertility patients suffering from PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). Acupuncture can help these patients to restore regular ovulation. Maintaining body mass index between 20 and 25 is another way to alleviate symptoms of PCOS. This study also suggests that there may be more than one way acupuncture is helpful for PCOS patients.

Acupuncture - Pentagon's new weapon

US Air Force doctors will have a new medical weapon in their arsenal: acupuncture. Military physicians, pleased with the success of treating wounded troops at home, will begin teaching battlefield medics how to fight severe or chronic pain by inserting tiny acupuncture needles under soldiers’ skin, the Baltimore Sun reports.

“This is one of the fastest pain attenuators in existence,” a surgeon said, adding that relief lasts for days.

Update: Jul 21, 2009 |
Please listen to a report by Stephanie Marudas | NPR


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Acupuncture for headaches and migraines superior to medication

Acupuncture is superior medication therapy for headaches. Acupuncture is more effective than sham acupuncture (fake acupuncture or placebo) in reducing headache intensity and frequency. More people respond to acupuncture than to medication. These are the conclusions of this massive systematic review, which included 31 studies on acupuncture for chronic headache, including migraine and tension-type headache. This high quality study was conducted by Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, USA and published in the current issue of Anesthesia and Analgesia. 

A skeptic doctor strongly recommends acupuncture to improve IVF success rate, treatment for pain, nausea and more

Medical researcher Dr Shaun Holt used to belong to New Zealand skeptic society, an organisation known for being critical of acupuncture. Dr Holt reviewed a lot of research on natural medicine and as a result has changed his opinion about some of the natural medicines. Yesterday he appeared on TV endorsing acupuncture as very safe and effective treatment for back pain, headaches and improving success rate of IVF (in vitro fertilisation). Watch the report on TVNZ.

Acupuncture eases depression

If you are in New Zealand, you may have read the article on stuff.co.nz titled "Needles ease depression". The article cites a small Australian study, which shows that acupuncture can effectively relieve severe depression. A quick web search has shown that the results of this particular study, even though quite dramatic, are still preliminary. The study is not completed yet.

I did a bit more digging in medical databases online and found another study published earlier this year in Journal of affective disorders. This study is a meta analysis (which is quite a lot higher up on the evidence based medicine hierarchy ladder).

The researchers reviewed and summarised results of eight randomised controlled trials. They confirmed that acupuncture significantly reduced the severity of depression, which was indicated by decreased scores of Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAMD) or Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

Acupuncture five times better than typical care for neck pain after surgery

It is hard to quantify the effect of acupuncture. This is why this study reported by scientists from Cancer Center in New York is so interesting.

After four weeks, 39 percent of neck surgery patients who got acupuncture reported improvements in pain and mobility, compared with only 7 percent in people who got typical care. This means that a patient after neck surgery and radiotherapy is five and a half times more likely to feel significantly better, than a patient who is receiving regular treatment. Furthermore, the study also showed that other symptoms like xerostomia significantly improved (xerstomia is extreme dry mouth which often occurs in patients who have had radiation treatment for head and neck cancer).

The results of the study were presented at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

Acupuncture improves athletic performance

Acupuncture can improve cyclists performance, Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine reports.

Acupuncture gave higher RPE scores.  And the higher RPE scores gave lower time and VAS scores. 

Have I confused you? In other words, the cyclists receiving acupuncture before the 20km ride achieved greater levels of exertion, cycled faster and had less pain.

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7-year neck pain study: acupuncture and manipulation best choice for neck pain

Manual therapy, mobilisation and acupuncture are better choices for managing most common neck pain than many current practices, a seven year study finds.

Researchers conclude that neck collars and ultrasound are not recommended. Corticosteroid injections and surgery should only be considered if there is associated pain, weakness or numbness in the arm, fracture or serious disease.

Reference: pubmed.
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Acupuncture improves quality of life of patients exhausted by chemotherapy

People exhausted by chemotherapy felt better and had the energy to walk to the shops and to socialise, so their quality of life improved significantly after six sessions of acupuncture in a study conducted by Alex Molassiotis, professor of cancer and supportive care at the University of Manchester.

In this randomised placebo-controlled trial, the chemotherapy patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups to receive either (1) acupuncture or (2) acupressure or (3) sham acupressure. 

The acupuncture group (1) received six 20 minute sessions spread over three weeks.

Patients in the acupressure group (2) were taught to massage the same acupuncture points.

The sham acupressure (3) patients were taught the same massage technique, but were told to massage points on not associated with energy and fatigue.

Patients receiving acupuncture (1) reported a 36% improvement in fatigue, whilst those in the acupressure group (2) improved by 19%. The sham acupressure group (3) reported a mere 0.6% improvement.

Reference: Complementary Therapies in Medicine (DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2006.09.009)
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Acupuncture + surgery = less pain, less drugs, less side effects

Duke University Medical Centre in North Carolina analysed the results of 15 clinical trials on the effectiveness of acupuncture. The researchers concluded that patients getting acupuncture before or during various types of operations had significantly less pain afterwards than patients who did not get acupuncture.

Acupuncture also reduced other side effects associated with the pain drugs and surgery. Acupuncture patients experienced 1.5 times lower rates of nausea, 1.6 times fewer reports of dizziness and 3.5 times fewer cases of urinary retention compared to patients had surgery and no acupuncture.

"The use of acupuncture is still very under-appreciated..." Dr. Tong-Joo Gan, vice chairman of Duke's anaesthesiology department said in an interview to Reuters

The research was presented at a conference of the American Society for Anaesthesiology in San Francisco. (Image by)

Chinese medicine superior to drugs easing menstrual cramps

Chinese herbal medicine provides significant pain relief for women with menstrual cramps, researchers from University of Western Sydney show.

Women with period pains are often offered either non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or oral contraceptives. Both of the options have drawbacks including the short and long term side-effects. Many women find these treatments don't work or that they would prefer a natural alternative.

A review of 39 controlled trials in 3,475 women found that Chinese herbal medicine was superior to pharmaceutical drugs providing significant pain relief. It relieved overall symptoms even better than acupuncture.

There was no indication that Chinese herbal medicine caused any adverse events, making it the first choice for relieving menstrual cramps. (image by)

Acupuncture best therapy for back pain

I have mentioned to you before that acupuncture is more effective than conventional treatment for pregnancy back pain, that acupuncture relieves lower back pain long term and that you don't even necessarily need the needles, acupressure for back pain alone is more effective than conventional therapies.

Now scientists from Germany have clearly spelled out that acupuncture is almost twice as effective as conventional treatment. And that the effect of treatment lasts for at least 6 months. This news has generated a lot of publicity from media worldwide, but not much in New Zealand.
Interestingly, none of the previous research got so much attention as this.

Reference: Archives of Internal Medicine
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