A new study determines that acupuncture is an effective treatment modality for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This randomized, controlled study compared true acupuncture with placebo, sham, acupuncture. The researchers determined that true acupuncture effectively decreased COPD symptoms. Placebo acupuncture did not benefit the patients.
Acupuncture for COPDIn this 12 week study of 111 patients, researchers determined that acupuncture is an effective treatment for COPD. True acupuncture effectively reduced dyspnea on exertion (DOE). Dyspnea, also referred to as shortness of breath or air hunger, is one of the main symptomatic presentations of COPD. The true acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups received treatment at a rate of once a week for 12 weeks. Upon completion of the study the researchers concluded, “This study clearly demonstrates that acupuncture is a useful adjunctive therapy in reducing DOE in patients with COPD.”
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Reference:
A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Acupuncture in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), The COPD-Acupuncture Trial (CAT). Masao Suzuki, LAc, PhD; Shigeo Muro, MD, PhD; Yuki Ando, MSc; Takashi Omori, PhD; Tetsuhiro Shiota, MD, PhD; Kazuo Endo, MD; Susumu Sato, MD, PhD; Kensaku Aihara, MD; Masataka Matsumoto, MD; Shinko Suzuki, MD; Ryo Itotani, MD; Manabu Ishitoko, MD; Yoshikazu Hara, MD; Masaya Takemura, MD, PhD; Tetsuya Ueda, MD, PhD; Hitoshi Kagioka, MD, PhD; Masataka Hirabayashi, MD; Motonari Fukui, MD, PhD; Michiaki Mishima, MD, PhD. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(11):878-886. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1233
