Acupuncture News and Research

Complementary Acupuncture Treatment Increases Cerebral Metabolism in Patients with Parkinson's Disease.

Int J Neurosci. 2009;119(8):1190-1197

Authors: Huang Y, Jiang X, Zhuo Y, Tang A, Wik G

We used positron emission tomography (PET) and the 18-flourodeoxyglucose tracer to study cerebral effects of complementary acupuncture in Parkinson's disease. Five patients received scalp-acupuncture and Madopa, while the other five had Madopa only. PET scans before and after 5 weeks of complementary acupuncture treatment show increased glucose metabolisms in parietal, temporal, occipital lobes, the thalamus, and the cerebellum in the light-diseased hemisphere, and in parietal and occipital lobes of the severe-diseased hemisphere. No changes were observed in the Madopa-only group. Acupuncture in combination with Madopa may improve cerebral glucose metabolism in Parkinson's disease.

PMID: 19922349 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Iatrogenic Bullae Following Cupping Therapy.

J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Nov;15(11):1243-1245

Authors: Lin CW, Wang JT, Choy CS, Tung HH

Abstract Background: Cupping therapy is a popular technique in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Cupping is the application of a vacuum to a closed system cup on a specific area of skin. Subject and setting: A 55-year-old, previously healthy man presented at our emergency department (ED) due to tingling and a painful sensation on his back after receiving cupping therapy while on his private airplane. Physical examination of the patient's back revealed multiple blisters within circular marks of differing sizes and varying shades of redness, petechiae, and ecchymosis. Results: After regular, judicious changes of sterile dressing over several weeks at our ED, the vesicle healed well and left no visible scars. Conclusions: Although bleeding, erythema, edema, and ecchymosis are created on purpose to achieve acupuncture point microcirculation, complications such as burn injury and thrombocytopenia also have been reported. We report a case of cupping-related blisters as a result of changes in atmospheric pressure related to the unexpected descent of an airplane.

PMID: 19922257 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Effect of Acupuncture on Induction of Labor.

J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Nov;15(11):1209-1214

Authors: Lim CE, Wilkinson JM, Wong WS, Cheng NC

Abstract Objective: The objective of this study is to review the existing scientific evidence on the potential role of acupuncture on induction of labor during pregnancy. Design: The Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine), and NCCAM (The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) databases were searched to identify relevant monographs from 1970 to 2008. Inclusion criteria: These criteria included all available human acupuncture studies on pregnant women carrying a viable fetus due for third trimester induction of labor. Exclusion criteria: These criteria included studies not meeting the inclusion criteria, in languages other than English, or animal studies. Results: Ten (10) studies on labor induction were identified. The duration of labor as a result of acupuncture treatment ranged from 10 hours 20 minutes to 29.1 hours. All of the studies demonstrated labor induction by acupuncture treatment. However, because two randomized controlled trials reported that there was no statistically significant effect of acupuncture, these results are more suggestive than definitive. Furthermore, although the relationship between cervical ripening and interleukin-8 (IL-8), prostaglandin F(2alpha) (PGF(2alpha)), and beta-endorphin is well documented in the literature, there is no evidence to suggest that acupuncture alters these mediators. Serum levels of IL8, beta-endorphin, and PGF(2alpha) were not found to be significantly influenced by acupuncture. Conclusions: Although the definitive role of acupuncture in inducing labor is still yet to be established, the existing studies suggest that acupuncture may be beneficial in labor induction. Further randomized clinical trials are needed to investigate this further.

PMID: 19922252 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Effects of Scalp Acupuncture Versus Upper and Lower Limb Acupuncture on Signal Activation of Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) fMRI of the Brain and Somatosensory Cortex.

J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Nov;15(11):1193-1200

Authors: Park SU, Shin AS, Jahng GH, Moon SK, Park JM

Abstract Objective: The objective of this article is to investigate brain activity of scalp acupuncture (SA) as compared to upper and lower limb acupuncture (ULLA) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Subjects and methods: Ten (10) healthy right-handed female volunteers aged 20-35 were divided into 2 groups: a SA group and an ULLA group. The SA group had needles inserted at the left Sishencong (HN1), GB18, GB9, TH20, and the ULLA group at the right LI1, LI10, LV3, ST36 for 20 minutes, respectively. Both groups had tactile stimulation in the order of the right LI1, LI10, LV3, ST36 before and after acupuncture for a block of 21 seconds repeated 3 times. The blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) fMRI was used to observe the brain and somatosensory cortex signal activation. Results: We compared the signal activation before and after acupuncture needling, and the images showed signal activation after removing the acupuncture needles and the contralateral somatosensory association cortex, the postcentral gyrus, and the parietal lobe were more activated in the SA group. The right occipital lobe, the lingual gyrus, the visual association cortex, the right parahippocampal gyrus, the limbic lobe, the hippocampus, the left anterior lobe, the culmen, and the cerebellum were activated in the ULLA group. Conclusions: We concluded that there were different signal activations of BOLD fMRI before and after SA versus ULLA, which can be thought to be caused by the sensitivity of acupoints and the different sensory receptors to acupuncture needling.

PMID: 19922250 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Acupuncture for Treatment of Insomnia: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Nov;15(11):1171-1186

Authors: Cao H, Pan X, Li H, Liu J

Abstract Background: Acupuncture is commonly used in treating insomnia in China, and clinical studies have shown that acupuncture may have a beneficial effect on insomnia compared with Western medication. Methods: We included randomized controlled trials on acupuncture for insomnia. We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library (2008 Issue 3), China Network Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), and Wan Fang Database. All searches ended in December 2008. Two authors extracted data and assessed the trials' quality independently. RevMan 5.0.17 software was used for data analysis with effect estimate presented as relative risk (RR) and mean difference (MD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Forty-six (46) randomized trials involving 3811 patients were included, and the methodological quality of trials was generally fair in terms of randomization, blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis. Meta-analyses showed a beneficial effect of acupuncture compared with no treatment (MD -3.28, 95% CI -6.10 to -0.46, p = 0.02; 4 trials) and real acupressure compared with sham acupressure (MD -2.94, 95% CI -5.77 to -0.11, p = 0.04; 2 trials) on total scores of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Acupuncture was superior to medications regarding the number of patients with total sleep duration increased for >3 hours (RR 1.53, 95% CI 1.24-1.88, p < 0.0001). However, there was no difference between acupuncture and medications in average sleep duration (MD -0.06, 95% CI -0.30-0.18, p = 0.63). Acupuncture plus medications showed better effect than medications alone on total sleep duration (MD 1.09, 95% CI 0.56-1.61, p < 0.0001). Similarly, acupuncture plus herbs was significantly better than herbs alone on increase of sleep rates (RR 1.67, 95% CI 1.12-2.50, p = 0.01). There were no serious adverse effects with related to acupuncture treatment in the included trials. Conclusions: Acupuncture appears to be effective in treatment of insomnia. However, further large, rigorous designed trials are warranted.

PMID: 19922248 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Acupuncture Anesthesia for Complicated Dental Extractions in Patients with Lidocaine Allergy.

J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Nov;15(11):1149-1152

Authors: Hu WL, Chang CH, Hung YC, Shieh TY

[Figure: see text].

PMID: 19922244 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

The Efficacy of Acupuncture in Treating Urge and Mixed Incontinence in Women: A Pilot Study.

J Wound Ostomy Continence Nurs. 2009 November/December;36(6):661-670

Authors: Engberg S, Cohen S, Sereika SM

PURPOSE: The propose of this pilot study was to examine the feasibility of recruiting women into a clinical trial designed to examine the efficacy of acupuncture in treating urge and mixed urinary incontinence (UI) and the feasibility of performing the planned study procedures. We also sought to determine if there was preliminary evidence to suggest that acupuncture may be effective in reducing UI and improving general health-related and disease-specific quality of life and if a sham acupuncture needle is an effective placebo intervention. DESIGN: This pilot study was a double-blinded, randomized, clinical trial. Subjects were randomly assigned to a true or sham (placebo control) acupuncture group. Both true and sham acupuncture treatments were performed twice a week for 6 weeks. All subjects were evaluated at the completion of the 6-week intervention and 4 weeks later. SAMPLE: The sample consisted of 9 women between the ages of 44 and 66 years with urge or mixed urge and stress UI at least twice a week for a minimum of 3 months. MEASURES: Subjects completed a 1-week bladder diary at baseline and at 1 and 4 weeks postacupuncture to assess the impact of acupuncture on incontinence episodes. Quality of life was measured at baseline and at 1 and 4 weeks postacupuncture using the Medical Outcomes Short-Form (general health- related quality of life) and the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire and Urogenital Distress Inventory (incontinence-specific quality of life). RESULTS: It was feasible to recruit subjects and perform the planned study procedures. Subjects randomized to the true acupuncture group had a mean 63.30% (median = 65.99%) reduction in daytime accidents/day at 1 week postacupuncture and 67.47% reduction (median = 75.76%) at 4 weeks postacupuncture. In contrast, the mean reduction in daytime accidents was 18.88% (median = 19.64%) at 1 week and 16.67% (median = 0%) at 4 weeks post-sham acupuncture. There were no significant group differences in changes in the scores on the quality-of-life measures. Subjects' perceptions about whether they had received the true or sham acupuncture were not significantly better than one would expect by chance. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this pilot study support the need for additional research examining the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of UI in women, the feasibility of performing study procedures, and the use of a sham needle as placebo in acupuncture studies.

PMID: 19920749 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Alternative methods of conservative treatment of idiopathic scoliosis.

Ortop Traumatol Rehabil. 2009 Oct 30;11(5):391-408

Authors: Zarzycka M, Ro&#x17C;ek K, Zarzycki M

Summary Scoliosis is a deformity of the spine known since Hippocrates times. The value of certain methods of conservative treatment remains controversial. Some of them have only a psychological value both for the physician and his or her caregivers. Based on current literature and the Scoliosis Research Society Report of Alternative Methods of Treatment of Idiopathic Scoliosis, we describe the effectiveness of various alternative methods, such as exercise, Dobosiewicz technique, Karski method, SEAS 02, acupuncture, Alexander technique, aromatherapy, ayurveda, ASCO treatment, biofeedback, chiropractic, Yoga, Feldenkrais method, Pilates method, massage therapy, rolfing, magnet therapy, surface electrical stimulation, PNF, Copes system, and bracing.

PMID: 19920282 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]