Pain

Research On Acupuncture

Acupuncture needles in a rainbow of colors.

Just some of the numerous research studies done on ACUPUNCTURE, including its benefits for people suffering with anxiety, depression, digestive issues, arthritis, and back pain. Acupuncture is a drugless therapy (by the way).

1. ANXIETY

Source: American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2007
It is accepted that emotional disturbances lead to immune impairment, and that treatment could restore the immune system. This study looked at the effect of acupuncture on anxiety. The acupuncture protocol involved needling 19 acupoints, with sessions lasting 30 minutes, performed on women aged 30-60 suffering from anxiety as measured by the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Before and after receiving the acupuncture treatment blood samples were taken. The results showed that the most favorable effects of acupuncture on immune functions appear 72 hours after the single session and persist one month after the end of the complete treatment.

2. LUNGS

Source: National Medicine Journal, 2012
This study looked at the effects of acupuncture over 12 weeks on 68 sufferers of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, a form of lung disease. The results revealed far less breathlessness in the group given acupuncture.

3. DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

Source: Cochrane Collaboration, 1986-2015
They looked at 59 studies during this period and found that the effectiveness of wrist acupoint PC-6 for stimulation of postoperative cases of nausea and vomiting to be comparable to that of anti-nausea drugs.

4. SKELETAL SYSTEM

Source: Arthritis and Rheumatology Review, 2008
Looked at eight acupuncture studies involving 536 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and found that, ”five studies revealed a reduction in erthrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), three reported a reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP) and one noted a large decrease in both.” Both ESR and CRP are markers of inflammation in the body. Arthritis is a disease that causes painful inflammation.

5. SPINE

Source: Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Journal, 2008
Study shows that electro-acupuncture–a modified form of acupuncture treatment that involves a tiny, pulsating electrical current–was conducted on patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and that those patients experienced varying reductions in lower back pain and the distance they were able to walk increased.

6. BRAIN

Source: University of Arizona
34 women with depression underwent acupuncture targeted at specific points. Reduced symptoms were found in 43% of the women who received acupuncture. Eight weeks after the start of the study, more than half of the women who received targeted acupuncture were no longer experiencing depression. Some credit these results to acupuncture’s potential to release endorphins which act as natural painkillers in the body as well as to its ability to reduce the stress hormone cortisol.

* Studies found in Newsweek: Nature’s Remedies, 2017

Acupuncture Helps Chronic Pain

shoulder_female_100ppi_A4_011b Acupuncture has long been recognized as an effective treatment for chronic pain. In 2012, a study found acupuncture was better than no acupuncture or simulated acupuncture for the treatment of four chronic pain conditions:

Back and neck pain
Osteoarthritis (your doctor may call it “degenerative joint disease” or “wear and tear” arthritis)
Chronic headache
Shoulder pain

The National Institute of Health calls the study “the most rigorous evidence to date that acupuncture may be helpful for chronic pain.”

Now, doctors are eager to find a drug-free approach to pain treatment light of the dangers of opioids — the class of powerful pain medications that includes codeine, morphine, OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin. In March, the CDC called deaths from opioid overdoses “an epidemic.”

“Now, you’re like, ‘OK, well, if we’re not using opioids, what should we use?'” says Houman Danesh, MD, director of integrative pain management at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital. That dilemma has many people giving acupuncture a second look when it comes to treating pain.

“If a lot of people recognize the value of acupuncture,” Hui says, “it will be one of the components of addressing the prescription drug epidemic that we’re talking about in our country right now.”

By Sid Lipsey
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by David Kiefer, MD

http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/features/acupuncture-pain-killer

Acupuncture Is Effective For Migraine Headaches

getty_rf_photo_of_acupuncture Acupuncture helps reduce days with migraines and may have lasting effects, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

In the study, almost 500 adults were treated with either traditional Chinese acupuncture or a sham treatment in which acupuncture needles were inserted in nonspecific points. The acupuncture treatment points were previously used to study migraine. Participants did not know which type of acupuncture treatment they were receiving during the four-week study.

After completing the study, all of the participants — including those in the sham group — reported fewer days with migraines than before the study began. Prior to the study, most suffered monthly migraines, on average six days of migraines a month. After the completing the study, they reported migraines on an average of three days in the month.

In the month following the treatment, all of the participants also reported improvements in the frequency and intensity of migraines.

However, lasting effects were seen only in study participants who received traditional acupuncture. Three months after treatment, people who received traditional Chinese acupuncture continued to report a reduction in migraine days, frequency, and intensity. People who received the sham treatment did not.

Albrecht Molsberger, MD, a medical acupuncture specialist who wrote an editorial on the study, says that even in sham acupuncture, the simple insertion of needles into the skin, regardless of the exact points of insertion, can lead to fewer migraines and reduced pain.

“Putting needles in the patient twice weekly over six weeks does have a [physical] effect, but if we did it the Chinese way, we might be better off,” he says.

A previous study of 300 people showed that acupuncture is more effective than no acupuncture in the treatment of migraine. Another study of nearly 800 people showed that 11 acupuncture treatments over six weeks were at least as effective as the blood pressure drugs called beta-blockers — often used for migraine prevention — taken daily for six months, Molsberger tells WebMD.

“Acupuncture should be an option for the first-line treatment of migraine to supplement other non-[drug] treatment options,” he writes in his editorial.

By Sonya Collins
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/news/20120112/acupuncture-may-be-effective-for-migraines