Category Archives: Acupuncture

Acupuncture May Help With Opioid Abuse

As we head into 2019 one of the most significant problems facing the U.S. is the on-going opioid crisis. Data from the CDC illustrates the enormity of the opioid epidemic. On average, 130 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose. More than 2/3rds of the 70,000 drug overdose deaths in 2017 were due to an opioid. Finally, in financial terms, the economic burden of prescription opioid misuse in the U.S. is estimated to be $78.5 billion annually.

As awareness of the opioid crisis increases, interest in other medical treatments which do not involve pain medications has increased as well. For instance, acupuncture is now given more consideration as a possible treatment for various pain syndromes, versus opioid medications.

A recently published study by a group of Chinese researchers examined the use of acupuncture for treating opioid use disorder (OUD) in adults. This was a meta-analysis, including nine studies and over 1000 participants in total. The studies were completed in China, the U.K., and the U.S. Various forms of acupuncture were used including electroacupuncture, manual acupuncture, auricular (ear) acupuncture, and transcutaneous accupoint electrical stimulation.

Results of the meta-analysis showed that acupuncture could be effective in treating opioid use disorder among adults. The mechanism by which acupuncture treats OUD is not clear, but may be related to release of the body’s endogenous peptides, which have opiate-like activity. These include dysmorphins, endorphins, and enkephalins.

In general acupuncture has been found to be a safe and well-tolerated treatment for a number of medical conditions. Given this, and the positive results of the above study, acupuncture may prove to be a helpful tool for opioid use disorder treatment.

(Source- Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Volume 2018, ID 3724708)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Acupuncture to Prevent Migraines

June is designated National Migraine Headache Awareness Month. In recognition of this today’s post is related to the topic of migraine headaches.

A group of researchers in China recently designed a study to investigate the long-term effects of true acupuncture on migraine headaches. A total of 249 subjects with ages from 18 to 65 years old and who had migraine headaches 2-8 times a month were included in the study.

The study lasted 24 weeks, and consisted of 4 weeks of treatment followed by 20 weeks of follow-up. Participants were randomized to a true acupuncture group, a fake acupuncture group, or a control group (wait list). Those in the true and fake acupuncture groups were treated 5 days a week for a total of 20 treatments, usually 30 minutes each visit.

The outcome measure of the study was the change in frequency of migraine headaches from the start of the study until 16 weeks. This was assessed by a migraine diary. A total of four acupuncture points were used for each treatment, two of which were fixed points that were used in each treatment session.

At the end of the study researchers found that in the true acupuncture group the frequency of migraines, number of days with migraines, and pain intensity of migraines was reduced to a greater degree than that in the fake acupuncture or control group.

Two important additional points-  although the acupuncture was only administered for four weeks the benefits last until the end of the study, which was 24 weeks, or 20 weeks after the last session of acupuncture. Also, the study consisted of 77% women, who suffer from migraines disproportionately.

It is estimated that over 37 million people in the U.S. suffer from migraine headaches. These are found most often in folks between the ages of 35 and 55, and are much more common in women than men. Based on the results of this well-designed study perhaps acupuncture should receive more consideration as a prevention strategy for these debilitating headaches.

(Source- JAMA Internal Medicine 2017; 177 (4))

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

 

Acupuncture for Arthritic Knee Pain

May is designated Arthritis Awareness Month, and in recognition of this several posts will review topics related to arthritis. In a systematic review published in the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, researchers found acupuncture to be effective in reducing knee pain from osteoarthritis. Researchers looked at several published studies to compare the effectiveness of acupuncture to other treatments for arthritic knee pain.

The research group, based in the UK, reviewed a total of 156 published trials. In addition to acupuncture, they reviewed other treatment modalities such as aerobic exercise, muscle-strengthening exercise, heat treatment, manual therapy, laser/light therapy, Tai Chi, TENS, and weight loss, among others. The purpose of the review was to compare acupuncture with alternative treatments that a primary care physician might typically prescribe for osteoarthritic knee pain.

The researchers found that several treatment modalities including acupuncture, TENS, aerobic exercise, and muscle strengthening exercise all showed some benefit when compared to “standard care”. Standard care in this instance would include analgesic pain medications and general exercise advice. In turn, when the other treatment modalities were compared to acupuncture, acupuncture was statistically superior in reducing knee pain compared to weight loss, muscle-strengthening exercises, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, and pulsed electromagnetic fields.

It is important to note that when the research group specifically looked at what they described as “better quality studies” acupuncture again showed a statistically significant reduction in knee pain when compared to standard of care. Also, when the better quality studies were considered, acupuncture was better at relieving knee pain when treatment modalities such as muscle strengthening exercise, weight loss and aerobic exercise were compared. 

This thorough review paper again highlights the benefits of acupuncture, in this case for arthritic knee pain. Acupuncture should be considered as a treatment option for osteoarthritic knee pain.

(Source- Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 21 (2013))

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

 

 

Acupuncture for Depression- More Evidence

May is National Mental Health Month in the U.S., and today’s post is the 2nd in a series addressing mental health issues.

Today’s post highlights research published earlier this year, which examined acupuncture and counseling for depression. The research was conducted in the UK, and was designed to determine both the clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of a short course of acupuncture or counseling for depression, compared to usual care. 

Patients were recruited into the study from the primary care population in the UK. Patients were adults and had been seen in the past 5 years for depression and were continuing to experience symptoms of depression. Patients needed to score in the moderate to severe depression range to be considered for entry into the study.

Up to 12 sessions of acupuncture or counseling were offered, usually on a weekly schedule. The primary endpoint of the study was at 3 months. Data was collected at baseline, and again at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used. The PHQ-9 is a validated tool used to diagnose as well as monitor treatment for depression.

Results of the study showed statistically significant improvements in depression at 3 months with both acupuncture and counseling, when compared to usual care. 33% of the acupuncture patients and 29% of the counseling patients achieved a successful treatment outcome. Only 18% of the usual care group achieved this result. In addition, acupuncture was found to be a cost-effective treatment for depression.

This well-designed study shows that acupuncture is a well-tolerated and cost-effective treatment for depression, over the short to medium time frame. Given the worldwide burden of depression, acupuncture seems an option worthy of consideration for treatment.

(Source- Programme Grants for Applied Research 2017, Vol. 5 No.3)

This blog is a review of the medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Acupuncture Helps with Allergic Asthma

Tuesday May 2nd is recognized as World Asthma Day, and in recognition of this today’s posts will focus on asthma and it’s treatment. 

A recently published study from Germany looked at the use of acupuncture in a group of patients who had previously been diagnosed with allergic asthma. 357 subjects were randomized to either an acupuncture group (184) or a control group (173). In the acupuncture group subjects received three months of acupuncture. In the control group the first three months consisted of usual care for asthma, followed by three months of acupuncture.

In addition to the 357 randomized subjects there was an additional non-randomized group of 1088 subjects who were allocated only to acupuncture.

The primary endpoint of the study was the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ). The AQLQ is a validated questionnaire designed to assess the impact of functional problems on those adults with asthma. In addition to the AQLQ the Short Form-36 (SF-36) survey was administered. The SF-36 is designed to assess quality of life measures.

What the researchers discovered was that the allergic asthma patients treated with acupuncture had clinically significant improvements in both disease specific and general quality of life measures compared to those patients who only received routine care, after three months of treatment.

Two other interesting findings- the improvements in both the randomized and non-randomized acupuncture groups were stable at six months. Also, the level of training or experience of the acupuncturist did not seem to influence the results.

 Another finding of this study was that any side effects from acupuncture were minor, such as bruising or needle pain.

This well designed study from Germany provides support for the use of acupuncture as an additional therapy for those afflicted with asthma. Acupuncture appears well tolerated and effective in this study population.

(Source-Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol 23, Number 4, 2017)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Acupuncture as a Adjunct Treatment for Depression

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) has designated April 7th as World Health Day, with this year’s focus on depression. In recognition of this important day, our posts today will discuss depression and it’s treatment.

According to the results of the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study, depressive disorders rank 2nd in terms of global disability.

 Recently researchers from Taiwan conducted a meta-analysis of randomized trials in which the effects of antidepressant medications for adults diagnosed with depressive disorder was compared to a combination therapy of antidepressant medications plus acupuncture. The initial literature search yielded 661 possibly relevant research papers, which eventually was narrowed down to 13 studies, with a total of 1046 subjects.

Types of acupuncture included electro-acupuncture, manual acupuncture, and acupuncture with moxibustion. The number of acupuncture sessions varied from 9 to 36 with most treatment regimens lasting about six weeks. Various antidepressants were used including amitriptyline, fluoxetine, and paroxetine. Outcome measures included the Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAMD-17) and the self-rating depression scale (SDS), among others.

What the researchers found after their analysis of the 13 different randomized trials was that the combination of acupuncture plus medication is more effective than medication alone, for the treatment of depression in the first six weeks.

 Given depression’s massive burden to both the individual and society it would seem acupuncture may warrant some consideration as an add-on treatment to conventional therapy. Acupuncture is generally well tolerated and may help mitigate side effects of antidepressant medications as well.

(Source- Journal of Affective Disorders, 176 (2015))

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone.

 

Acupuncture For Depression

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In our second post for Mental Illness Awareness Week we will examine research which shows support for acupuncture in treating depression.

In an article published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research a Chinese research group found benefit for acupuncture in treating major depression. This particular study looked at manual acupuncture as well as electro-acupuncture, in a group of patients who received the commonly prescribed anti-depressant paroxetine.

The study included 160 patients diagnosed with moderate to severe depression. One treatment group received paroxetine only, while the other two groups received manual acupuncture or electro-acupuncture in addition to the paroxetine.

The patients in the acupuncture groups received three sessions of acupuncture per week over six consecutive weeks. Assessment of the patients in the manual and electro-acupuncture groups showed significant improvement in depression scores compared to paroxetine alone beginning at week one and continuing through week six of the study. In addition, in the group which received electro-acupuncture, the benefits continued four weeks after the electro-acupuncture treatments were stopped.

The results of this study are significant, especially in light of the beneficial effect of acupuncture when added on to a commonly used anti-depressant. The finding that acupuncture helps with depressive symptoms almost immediately is particularly important, as the beneficial effects of medications often take longer to materialize. Given the generally safe nature of acupuncture treatments, they may offer a supplemental treatment choice for depression.

(Source- Journal of Psychiatric Research 47, 2013 )

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Acupuncture May Improve Exercise Performance and Recovery

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For some, seeing Michael Phelps and other swimmers on the starting blocks this week with the distinctive circular bruises left by cupping may have been their first exposure to this alternative health practice. However cupping in one form or the other has been in practice for thousands of years, and there are references in ancient Egyptian, Greek, Chinese and Persian texts regarding this technique. In honor of the Rio Olympics today’s post will examine another ancient health practice, acupuncture, specifically the use of acupuncture to enhance  both exercise performance, as well as post-exercise recovery.

Australian researchers reviewed data from four different acupuncture studies, three of which looked at its effect on exercise performance, while one study examined the effect of acupuncture on post-exercise recovery. There were 84 total participants in the four studies, both men and women. As the design of each study was varied (such as different treatment protocols, different outcome measures, different placebo controls, etc.) the Australian researchers did not pool the data from the four studies but instead examined each study on its own merits. One thing all four studies did have in common was the use of a cycle ergometer as the exercise method.

The Australian research group noted that one study (Li et al.) showed significantly increased peak power output in the acupuncture group versus the control group. On the other hand two studies (Dhillon et al. and Karvelas et al.) did not show benefit.

Also, in the  study that examined post-exercise recovery (Lin et al.) it was demonstrated that acupuncture needles inserted prior to exercise significantly lowers the blood lactate level sixty minutes after exercise.

Taken in whole the four studies show some possible benefits for acupuncture treatment, both for exercise performance as well as post-exercise recovery. What are now needed are additional well designed studies with larger numbers of participants to determine if these treatment effects are real. Acupuncture is a generally well tolerated treatment modality with a good safety profile, and may offer benefits to athletes and those that exercise.

(Source- The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Volume 19, Number 1, 2013).

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Acupuncture May Offer Help In PTSD

PTSD Awareness

 

Out of respect to National PTSD Awareness Day today’s post will examine a possible role for acupuncture in treating PTSD.

A group of researchers in Korea and the U.S. performed a systematic review of the published studies regarding acupuncture for PTSD. After eliminating several studies whose design did not meet criteria, researchers looked at four randomized controlled trials and one uncontrolled clinical trial. Study participants were from the U.S. and China.

After studying these particular clinical trials the researchers concluded that the evidence in support of acupuncture to treat PTSD was encouraging. They also felt that additional well designed studies in this area would be helpful.

PTSD can be a challenging condition to treat. It would great if new and novel treatments were available. Perhaps in the future some well designed clinical trials will provide a definitive answer as to acupuncture’s effectiveness to treat PTSD.

(Source- Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Volume 2013, Article ID 615857)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.