Category: Acupuncture Research & Miscellaneous Conditions

A UK study looking at traditional Chinese acupuncture offered by a professional acupuncturist in a busy practice of ten GPs, found that it resulted in clinically relevant improvements in patients’ self-assessed state of well-being, across a whole variety of chronic conditions.

A total of 46 patients (mean age 50) were evaluated, and the majority received six acupuncture treatments. All participants completed a self-assessment survey known as MYMOP (Measure Your Medical Outcome Profile), both before and after treatment. The majority (46%)of referrals were requested by patients as awareness of the service grew, 41% were requested by the GP, and 13% were requested jointly by the GP and patient. The service ran for 18 months.

Most conditions seen, were chronic: 74% had experienced their condition for over one year, and 56% had had it for more than five years. The MYMOP forms recorded 58 separate symptoms, of which 72% were musculoskeletal, 9% neurological, 5% psychological, and 3.5% in other categories.

The MYMOP profiles showed clinically and statistically significant improvements across all components. Of the 42 patients who completed a patient experience survey, all were satisfied with the efficiency of the service, 81%
rating it as excellent. Patients particularly valued reductions in pain and stress levels, and improvements in quality of life.

(Patient Experience of Acupuncture in a GP Practice. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, August 2012.)

Researchers in China have shown that acupuncture has regulatory effects on mucosal and cellular immunity in patients with allergic asthma, and it may be a suitable adjunctive therapy for such patients.

One hundred patients with allergic asthma and seventy-four with chronic bronchitis, received acupuncture three times per week for five weeks, using acupuncture points specific to asthma. After treatment, concentrations of immunoglobulins (antibodies) in the saliva and nasal secretions of the allergic asthma patients, were found to have decreased significantly; also lower were the numbers of activated T-cells (lymphocyte cells involved in specific immune responses) and eosinophils (cells whose numbers increase in allergic hypersensitivity conditions like allergic asthma or hayfever) in the peripheral blood circulation. Although there were no significant changes in the bronchitis patients, some trends indicating a benefit of treatment, were observed.

(Considerations for use of Acupuncture as Supplemental Therapy for Patients with Allergic Asthma. Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology, on-line 3 June 2012.)

Researchers have found that acupuncture may help to regulate weight in obese subjects, by having a beneficial effect on hormones which influence hunger and satiation, even after a few weeks of treatment.

Forty women with a body-mass index greater than 30, were randomly allocated to either an acupuncture treatment group, or to a sham (non-penetrating) acupuncture group. Treatments were given twice a week for a total of five weeks. Comparing the women before and after treatment, acupuncture was shown among other things, to decrease insulin and leptin levels, induce weight loss, and reduce body-mass index.

(Influence of Acupuncture on Leptin, Ghrelin, Insulin and Cholecystokinin in Obese Women: A Randomised, Sham-Controlled Preliminary Trial. Acupuncture in Medicine, September 2012.)

Research in Japan shows acupuncture is associated with clinically relevant improvements in shortness of breath on exertion, in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

A total of 68 patients with COPD were randomised to receive either acupuncture, or non-penetrating placebo acupuncture, in both cases in addition to usual care. Treatment was spread over 12 weeks, following which breathlessness scores after a six minute walk, were significantly better in the real acupuncture group compared with the placebo group. In addition though, patients in the real acupuncture group showed clinically relevant improvements in nutritional status, body-mass index, airflow obstruction, exercise capacity, and health-related quality of life; no such improvements were exhibited by the placebo group.

This research has been described as thoughtful and methodologically rigorous, and the team include some speculative ideas on how acupuncture may be able to help COPD patients by relaxing hyper-activated respiratory muscles.

(A Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Acupuncture in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): The COPD-Acupuncture Trial. Archives of Internal Medicine, June 2012.)

Acupuncture administered to a well-known point on the ankle, can enhance activity in areas of the brain associated with memory, in patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Researchers used functional MRI scans to measure brain activity in both MCI patients and healthy controls, whilst they were being needled either superficially or more deeply, at the acupuncture point Taixi (illustrated left). Compared with healthy controls, the MCI patients’ scans revealed abnormal functional connectivity in the temporal regions of the brain (hippocampus, thalamus, fusiform gyrus) which are implicated in memory and information retrieval. Following deep needling, there were significant and persistent enhancements in the functional connectivity of these regions compared with only superficial needling.

The researchers conclude that the enhanced connectivity in the memory-related brain regions following acupuncture, may be related to the purported therapeutically beneficial effects of acupuncture for the treatment of MCI. Further, the differences observed between deep and superficial needle insertion suggest that deeper muscle insertion is necessary to achieve an appreciable clinical effect.

(FMRI Connectivity Analysis of Acupuncture Effects on the Whole Brain Network in Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, June 2012.)