Sep
10
Depression during pregnancy and Acupuncture
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, depression, pregnancy
Acupuncture – effective and safe treatment for pregnancy depression
I’ve written on the subject of depression and acupuncture before. Now a new and largest study to date published in Obstetrics & Gynaecology confirms acupuncture to be effective for pregnancy depression. I sincerely hope, that for the benefit of the developing babies, acupuncture becomes a mainstream therapy for pregnancy depression.
Why antidepressants is such a bad idea during pregnancy?
Since 2008 NZ Medsafe has been warning that SSRI antidepressant use in pregnancy may increase the risk of congenital abnormalities, and that in later stages of pregnancy can lead to neonatal complications indicative of a withdrawal syndrome, and to persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn; and that doctors need to discuss this with their patients.
Some antidepressants were considered to be relatively safe not so long ago, but there is more and more evidence confirming that any kind of antidepressants may temporary or permanently harm the developing foetus. The March 2010 issue of Pediatrics reports that antidepressants may permanently or reversibly affect fetal brain development.
Why you shouldn’t delay and address pregnancy depression as soon as it is diagnosed
- Many thousands of preterm births could be prevented if women with clinical depression receive treatment during pregnancy.
- As a result of stress or depression increased cortisol levels may lead to babies, who are born small and possibly smaller brains in proportion to their bodies.
- Babies born to mothers with depression have a blunted stress response, which may mean it is harder for them to react to stressful situations.
- Stress experienced by a pregnant female can alter the structure of her offspring’s brain, particularly regions vital for emotional development [reference]
- Pregnancy depression has a long-term effect on the child. Children born to stressed mothers have shown abnormally high cortisol levels at age 10.
The bottom line? Depression during pregnancy may harm the developing foetus and so can antidepressants. Acupuncture is safe and effective treatment for pregnancy depression. If you are pregnant and suspect that you may be suffering from depression, remember to discuss acupuncture with your obstetrician, midwife or GP and give me a ring!
Sep
9
TMJ Acupuncture
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, headache, migraine, pain relief
Eating a chocolate can be painful experience when you suffer from temporomandibular joint disorder(TMD or TMJD). But it is only one of numerous symptoms TMJD can cause. Symptoms may include headaches or migraines, tooth pain, and others.
Journal of Orofacial Pain has published a systematic review on acupuncture for treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders.
The review included 19 randomized controlled trials. The results concluded that acupuncture was more effective for TMD symptoms than physical therapy. Acupuncture was also more effective than indomethacin plus vitamin B1 therapy, and a wait-list control. Acupuncture was safe with no serious adverse events reported by the studies.
Three of the studies, included in the review, compared acupuncture to a placebo. Researchers concluded acupuncture had a therapeutic effect beyond placebo.
For some very helpful and detailed explanation of temporomandibular joint visit Dr Paul Smedley’s website.
Image courtesy of Pink Sherbet Photography
Ref: J Orofac Pain. 2010 Spring;24(2):152-62.
Jun
24
How acupuncture heals the root cause of PCOS
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, how acupuncture works, PCOS
The cause of polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS has not yet been agreed upon by scientists. And now there is another possible scenario of pathogenesis, which looks very viable.
Apart from the well-known insulin resistance and hormone imbalance, there is one more process happening in the PCOS women’s bodies. The name of it is high sympathetic nerve activity, which, studies show, is present with PCOS patients.
Sympathetic nervous system innervates and regulates almost all of the internal organs, including hormone glands. It also innervates ovaries.
The interesting bit is that scientists believe, that sympathetic hyperactivity could develop before the hormone imbalance, and therefore be the root cause of PCOS.
The reason this is on my blog is that acupuncture has been researched to normalise the sympathetic nervous system. It can restore regular ovulation especially in patients with less androgenic hormonal profile and a less pronounced metabolic disturbance.
Jun
20
Acupuncture for amblyopia or “lazy eye”
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture
Amblyopia, better known as “lazy eye” may affect up to 5% of the children. The condition is caused by brain and one of the eyes not communicating properly. And this study to be published in the Journal of Optalmology promises that acupuncture may be able to help to speed the recovery.
The Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences (DOVS) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Shantou University jointly conducted two clinical trials. 171 randomly chosen children who had lazy eyes were treated. More »
Jun
18
Acupuncture treatment for heart failure
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture
Acupuncture remarkably improves exercise tolerance in patients with heart failure says Dr Johannes Backs from University Hospital of Heidelberg in Germany.
His placebo controlled study included 17 patients with congestive heart failure. The patients were randomised to receive acupuncture or placebo – a needle that simulates the procedure without piercing the skin.
No improvement in cardiac ejection fraction or peak oxygen uptake was seen. But the six minute walk distance was ‘remarkably increased’ in the acupuncture group by 32m on average, compared to a drop of 1m in the placebo group.
Dr Johannes Backs said: ‘This is the first indication that acupuncture may improve exercise tolerance in CHF patients- when given in addition to optimised standard heart failure medication.’
Previous studies summarised by American researchers in Cardiology In Review have suggested that acupuncture could be sympatholytic in heart failure. They found that sympathetic activation during acute mental stress was virtually eliminated after acupuncture.
Another review published in Heart and Lung found that acupuncture was also holding a promise as a treatment for cardiac arrhythmias. According to the eight studies reviewed, 87% to 100% of participants converted to normal sinus rhythm after acupuncture.
(Ref: Cardiol Rev. 2004 May-Jun;12(3):171-3.; Heart doi:10.1136/hrt.2009.187930; Heart Lung. 2008 Nov-Dec;37(6):425-31. Epub 2008 Sep 11.)
The study can be found in Heart / British Medical Journal
Image courtesy of Linh_rOm
Jun
10
Acupuncture vs drugs
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, pain relief
Amusing reasoning of advantages of acupuncture over drugs for pain relief in an article on military medicine:
“Imagine being a military medic on a combat patrol that is ambushed and suffers casualties. Although several of your wounded troops have painful injuries, their trigger fingers still work and you need them to continue fighting. Instead of morphine, you grab your acupuncture needles and quickly stimulate the appropriate auricular acupoints. Pain relief is an essential component of combat casualty care; however, the use of narcotics risks taking the servicemember completely out of the fight. Beyond pain control, the potential advantages of BA (battlefield acupuncture) to the injured warrior include staying in the fight with no alteration in sensorium and no nausea or vomiting. In addition, the use of narcotics would force the transport of patients on litters. More combat team members would be required to carry a patient than are required to provide ambulatory assistance for a patient still lucid enough to walk.”
Jun
4
Acupuncture increases Adenosine 24-fold
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, how acupuncture works
Listen to Scientific American posdcast on the subject:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I have stumbled upon an article on the mechanism of acupuncture in the latest issue of journal of Nature.
A team of scientist from University of Rochester, New York found acupuncture triggered an increase in neurotransmitter adenosine an incredible 24-fold at the punctured area. The study is important, because it explains one of the mechanisms how acupuncture works.
More details in Nature Neuroscience.
Update: there was a substantial media coverage of this study including scientific journals like Scientific American and mainstream media including New Zealand Herald. I’ve inserted a scanned image of the story in NZ Herald forwarded to me by one of my colleagues.
Jan
28
A skeptic doctor strongly recommends acupuncture to improve IVF success rate
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, female infertility, IVF, New Zealand
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.
[Comment: this is an older post pulled from archives]
Jan
7
Dr Vitalis Acupuncture: my new premises!
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture
Dec
15
Acupuncture for Insomnia
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, anxiety, depression, 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.
image courtesy of samantids
Apr
27
Asthma and stress link explains how acupuncture may help
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, anxiety, asthma, inflammation, stress
Not many asthma sufferers come to see me specifically for this this condition. I do see many patients affected by stress, anxiety and depression. Some of them also suffer from asthma. A few of these patients told me that their asthma improved 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.
Image courtesy of net_efekt
Feb
27
Fertility, IVF and Acupuncture books
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, female infertility, infertility, IVF
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.
Feb
27
Acupuncture for hay fever
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, allergic rhinitis, hayfever
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.
Feb
21
Acupuncture Carpal Tunnel
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in 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
Image courtesy of .ygor
Feb
5
Acupuncture Diabetes: acupuncture improves memory impaired by diabetes
Posted by Dr Vitalis Acupuncture in acupuncture, diabetes, pregnancy
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.
Image courtesy of LoreleiRanveig