Category: Acupuncture Research & Miscellaneous Conditions

Researchers have found that acupuncture can significantly improve symptoms in men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. One hundred patients in an outpatient urology clinic were randomised to receive acupuncture at either seven pairs of acupoints or seven nearby sham points. Prostate symptom scores were compiled for each patient at 6,8,16 and 24 weeks after treatment.

At 8 week follow-up, in the real acupuncture group, 92% of patients showed in excess of a 50% decrease in symptom scores. By comparison, the corresponding figure for the sham group was only 48%. Throughout the follow-up period, both groups exhibited a significant decrease in scores, but the decrease in the real acupuncture group remained significantly greater.

(Acupuncture relieves symptoms in chronic prostatitis/ chronic pelvic pain syndrome: a randomized, sham-controlled trial. Journal of Prostate Cancer & Prostatic Diseases, September 2015.)

A pilot study undertaken by clinicians in Taiwan, has shown that acupuncture can significantly and promptly reduce dizziness and vertigo in patients attending a hospital accident and emergency department. A total of 60 patients aged 21-89, presenting at A&E with these symptoms, had serious causes ruled out before being allocated to one of two groups. The treatment group received a thirty minute acupuncture session, whilst the control group received acupressure seeds placed without stimulation, at points 1cm away from the acupoints used in the treatment group.

Compared with the controls, patients in the treatment group experienced significantly greater decreases in symptoms. The researchers, funded by the Taiwanese Government Ministry of Health & Welfare, concluded acupuncture was also a very safe intervention.

(Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for dizziness and vertigo in emergency department: a pilot cohort study. BMC Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 9 June 2015.)

In the US, nearly a third of the population has high blood pressure. Now researchers in California have found that electroacupuncture (running very small electrical currents between needles inserted at acupuncture points) has a significant and long-lasting benefit in patients with chronic high blood pressure.

A total of 65 patients with mild to moderate hypertension (in excess of 140–180/90–99mmHg) and not taking medication, were randomly allocated to one of two groups. The first group were given electroacupuncture at a set of active acupuncture points. The second group were given the same treatment at a set of control points. Treatments comprised a thirty minute session once a week for eight weeks. Patients were monitored using a 24 hour ambulatory monitoring kit.

After eight weeks, 70% of patients in the active treatment group had achieved a significant decrease in peak and average systolic and diastolic blood pressure. These improvements, which persisted for six weeks after cessation of treatment, were underscored by blood tests showing reductions in noradrenalin and renin (which raise blood pressure). No corresponding changes were seen in the control group.

(Long-Lasting Reduction of Blood Pressure by Electroacupuncture in Patients with Hypertension: Randomized Controlled Trial. Medical Acupuncture, 18 August 2015.)

A study undertaken in Milan, Italy shows that acupuncture can accelerate return to consciousness following a general anaesthetic. Fifty patients in recovery were randomly assigned to five groups: acupuncture at one of three point combinations, acupuncture at two sham points, or no acupuncture at all. Signs of recovery appeared faster in patients given true acupuncture compared with those in the sham and no-acupuncture groups. The most effective treatment was a combination of a point on the foot, with a point on the face traditionally considered a “first-aid point” to restore consciousness.

(Acupuncture accelerates recovery after general anesthesia: a prospective randomized controlled trial. Journal of Integrative Medicine, March 2015.)

An international study involving Korea, Europe and the US, has revealed that acupuncture stimulation of the point Yanglingquan near the knee, can activate areas of the brain which are known to be impaired in patients with Parkinson’s disease. In a comparison study, twelve patients (mean age 53) with Parkinson’s disease and twelve otherwise matched, healthy individuals, were needled at Yanglingquan whilst brain activity was observed using an fMRI scanner. The patients with Parkinson’s had their usual medication stopped 12 hours before the investigation.

The results showed that acupuncture stimulation had activated the prefrontal cortex, precentral gyrus and putamen in the patients with Parkinson’s; all these areas are known to be impaired in this disease. Furthermore, the characteristics of the activation were different for the two groups, and the patients with Parkinson’s displayed significantly higher post-acupuncture activity in the prefrontal cortex and precentral gyrus.

(Acupuncture on GB34 activates the precentral gyrus and prefrontal cortex in Parkinson’s disease. BMC Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 15 September 2014. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/14/336)