Acupuncture News and Research
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Clinical trials demonstrate that acupuncture and herbs alleviate post-stroke hemiplegia. Researchers from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine investigated the effects of acupuncture and traditional herbal medicine on post-stroke hemiplegia. They concluded that the combination of both TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) modalities is a more effective treatment protocol than using only acupuncture. Acupuncture combined with herbs yielded an 88.0% total effective rate and using only acupuncture had a 74.83% total effective rate. [1]
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Acupuncture point stimulation is effective for the treatment of diabetes. In a laboratory investigation, laser acupuncture outperformed rosiglitazone for the inhibition of β-cell apoptosis. In an independent clinical investigation, true TENS acupuncture point stimulation outperformed sham acupuncture point stimulation for regulating glucose levels and improving insulin resistance.
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Acupuncture is effective for relieving symptoms and improving quality of life for patients with dry eye syndrome in menopausal and premenopausal age groups. Researchers from the Third People's Hospital of Nanning City conducted a clinical trial comparing the effects of an acupuncture plus moxibustion protocol with artificial tears for patients with dry eye syndrome (i.e., keratoconjunctivitis sicca, dry eye disease). Acupuncture yielded superior patient outcomes over patients using artificial tears. [1]
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Acupuncture is effective for increasing the total effective rate of drug therapy for the relief of angina caused by coronary heart disease (CHD). Researchers from the Wuhan Seventh Municipal Hospital combined acupuncture with standard drug therapy. Patients receiving both modalities in a combined treatment protocol had superior patient outcomes compared with patients receiving only drug therapy. The results were confirmed with ECG outcomes, numbers of adverse events, and recurrence rates.
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Acupuncture, administered with the warm needle method, in combination with drug therapy outperforms drug monotherapy in the rehabilitation of patients with heroin addiction. Researchers from the Shanghai Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine affiliated to Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine University conducted a randomized clinical trial and found that warm needle acupuncture significantly reduces pain and improves sleep quality in patients. [1]
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Acupuncture is effective for reducing pain and improving hand function in patients with hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVD). Tools that vibrate may cause adverse neural and circulatory effects in the fingers, causing numbness, pain, and a blanching discoloration. Alternate terms for HAVD include vibration white finger and occupational origin Raynaud’s phenomenon (a type of secondary Raynaud’s). The condition is typically more prevalent the early morning or when the hands are cold and wet.
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Acupuncture is effective for endometriosis relief. Research published by Changhai Hospital Affiliated to Second Military Medical University finds electroacupuncture more successful than a powerful hormone antagonist for treating endometriosis. This is consistent with an independent laboratory study, whose findings indicate that the combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine reduces the size of ectopic endometrial tissue and downregulates levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
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Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of lateral epicondylitis, a painful condition of the tendons usually caused by overuse of the elbow and often referred to as tennis elbow. Researchers at the Dengfeng Community Health Service Center (Yuexiu District, Guangzhou) conducted a clinical trial comparing abdominal acupuncture monostherapy and abdominal acupuncture combined with warm needle acupuncture treatments. Both methods benefitted the patients, but the latter approach yielded better results with a total efficacy rate of 90.48%. [1]
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Acupuncture is effective for reducing pain and stiffness and restoring physical functioning in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Researchers from the Second Hospital Affiliated to Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine conducted a clinical trial in Botswana while working on an international medical aid program. [1] In the study, efficacy of regular drug therapy and warm needle acupuncture were analyzed. The warm needle acupuncture treatment protocol had superior patient outcomes.
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Acupuncture is effective for relieving varicose veins in the lower extremities. In a recent clinical trial, researchers at the Beijing Gulou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine found that an integrated protocol including acupuncture in addition to pharmaceutical treatment had better patient outcomes than pharmaceutical treatment alone. [1]
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Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of kidney stones. In one investigation, acupuncture outperformed standard drug therapy for pain relief due to ureteral stones (kidney stones stuck in ureters). In another independent investigation, acupuncture combined with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) was more effective than using ESWL alone for removing kidney stones.
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Acupuncture is effective for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). University of Campinas researchers found true electroacupuncture more effective than sham electroacupuncture for improving quality of life in patients with MS. [1] In another study by Wang et al., acupuncture reduced the rate of MS relapses. Compared with sham acupuncture, true acupuncture reduces the annual recurrence rate, pain levels, and bouts of depression levels.
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Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of Meniere’s disease. Researchers at Zunyi Medical University Affiliated Hospital conducted a clinical trial comparing the efficacy of a standard pharmaceutical treatment regimen with the addition of acupuncture to that regimen. The latter outperformed the standard regimen regarding hearing loss, speech discrimination score, and blood flow at the common carotid arteries. [1]
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Herbal medicine is effective for alleviating symptoms associated with COVID-19, according to modern research. Results indicate that an integrative medicine model of patient care is superior to biomedical monotherapy.
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Acupuncture and herbs are shown effective for the treatment of COVID-19 in modern research. In one investigation, acupuncture plus herbal medicine produced significant outcomes for severe COVID-19 patients. In another independent investigation, acupuncture and herbs alleviated symptoms for COVID-19 patients. The results were confirmed with CT scans. Let’s take a look at both investigations.
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Acupuncture improves quality of life for migraine patients by relieving pain and tension and reducing frequency of attacks. Researchers from the Qingpu Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine who conducted a clinical trial comparing manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture treatments found better patient outcomes with electroacupuncture. [1]
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Electroacupuncture improves sleep for post-stroke patients. First Hospital Affiliated to Heilongjiang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine researchers conducted a clinical trial comparing the effects of manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture. Results show that applying electrical stimulation to Shenmen (HT7) and Neiguan (PC6) more effectively improves sleep quality than manual stimulation for post-stroke patients. [1]
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Acupuncture reduces cancer-related fatigue and improves quality of life for cancer patients. An investigation conducted by the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University reveals that acupuncture can improve the related symptoms of headaches, weakness, and depression in patients with cancer-related fatigue (CRF). The research team concludes that “Acupuncture is effective in treating CRF and should be considered as a widely accepted treatment option in clinical practice for cancer care.” [1] This research was published in Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion.
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Acupuncture plus herbal medicine are found effective for the treatment of insufficient lactation. No. 3201 Hospital of Shanxi Province researchers determined that acupuncture plus herbal medicine has a 91.30% total effective rate when combined with routine breastfeeding care. This was an improvement over patients receiving only routine care.
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Acupuncture plus herbs benefit elderly patients with functional constipation. Researchers from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University conducted a randomized controlled clinical trial and confirmed that the combined protocol of acupuncture plus herbal medicine produces superior outcomes to using Duphalac monotherapy (i.e. lactulose, a synthetic sugar used to treat chronic constipation) to control functional constipation in elderly patients. [1]
