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Research Archive

Welcome to our Chinese medicine and acupuncture research news pages. We add to the content of these pages continuously as more research news comes in. Browse through the complete archive below or use the category links on the right.

Please note that the most twenty recent research archive items are free to view but access to the thousands of items in the archive require a journal subscription.

ACUPRESSURE FOR CHEMOTHERAPY SICKNESS

Categories: Cancer, Nausea & vomiting

Self-applied acupressure for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting has been found to compare favourably with placebo. A multicentre, longitudinal, randomised clinical trial enrolled 160 women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Subjects were randomised to one of three groups: acupressure at Neiguan P-6 point (active), acupressure to Houxi SI-3 point (placebo), or usual care only. Subject ...

AURICULAR ACUPUNCTURE FOR NAUSEA AND VOMITING AFTER GALL BLADDER SURGERY

Categories: Nausea & vomiting

The efficacy of auricular acupuncture for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting after cholecystectomy has been investigated by Iranian researchers. One hundred female patients undergoing transabdominal cholecystectomy were randomly allocated to an auricular acupuncture treatment group or a non-treatment group. A significant difference was found between the control and auricular acupu ...

ACUPUNCTURE FOR CHEMO INDUCED NAUSEA AND VOMITING IN CHILDREN

Categories: Babies & children / paediatrics, Cancer, Nausea & vomiting

Researchers have investigated whether acupuncture can reduce the need for antiemetic medication during chemotherapy in paediatric oncology. A multicentre crossover study carried out at five hospitals in Germany enrolled 23 children, mean age 13.6 years, who were receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy for the treatment of solid malignant tumours. Patients were randomly allocated to receive acupun ...

Chinese herbs and hepatitis e

Categories: Miscellaneous disorders

Hepatitis E is endemic in developing countries and may occur as imported hepatitis in industrialised countries. A 46-year-old Japanese man developed immunoserologically diagnosed acute hepatitis E in Japan 4 months after he had made a trip to China. He had bought a Chinese herbal medicine there, taking it occasionally until approximately 6 weeks prior to the onset of acute hepatitis. The results o ...

Acupuncture & eye blood flow

Categories: Eye disorders

Further details of a study we covered in NEWS May 1998, show a greater benefit from acupuncture among those who have previously received acupuncture than among those receiving treatment for the first time. The research carried out at the Department of Ophthalmology at Kyoto Prefectural University, involved needling Hegu L.I.-4 and measuring chorioretinal blood flow using the Heidelberg ...

Acupuncture and jet lag

Categories: Miscellaneous disorders

In a study carried out by the US airforce, electrical stimulation of auricular acupuncture points using a Pointer Plus device was effective in treating jet lag. 5 USAF aircrew members suffering from circadian desynchronosis (jet lag) were treated at points Shenmen, Zero, Sleep Disorder I and 2, and Pineal Gland at a frequency of 10 Hz, a pulse width of 220 microseconds, and a pulse shape of an asy ...

Acupuncture for spinal cord injuries

Categories: Spinal cord

A recent clinical trial of acupuncture therapy for spinal cord injury has shown promising results. 100 patients with acute spinal cord injury were randomly divided into two groups. The control group was treated with standard rehabilitation therapy, whilst the treatment group received electro-acupuncture treatment in addition to rehabilitation. For both groups, neurological and functional scores we ...

Acupuncture for uveitis

Categories: Eye disorders

Uveitis, an inflammation of the uvea, the middle layer of the eye, causes pain, blurred vision and, left untreated, may lead to blindness. Researchers at the University of Vienna ophthalmology and uveitis departments treated five patients with recurrent uveitis by acupuncture. All patients reported a decrease of pain and increased visual acuity, laser measurement showed decreased inflammation an ...

Acupuncture & spinal cord injury

Categories: Spinal cord

In a Taiwanese trial, 100 acute traumatic spinal cord injury patients were randomly assigned to acupuncture plus rehabilitation therapy, or control (rehabilitation only) groups. The acupuncture group received stimulation to Houxi SI-3 and Shenmai BL-62 bilaterally via adhesive surface electrodes, without needles. Treatment was given as early as possible- in the emergency room or soon after spinal ...

Acupuncture for voice disorders

Categories: Miscellaneous disorders

Point specific acupuncture is effective in treating vocal disorders arising from benign pathological tissue changes according to a recent study. Twenty four subjects with dysphonia were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a placebo group. The experimental group received acupuncture on Renying ST-9, Lieque LU-7 and Zhaohai KID-6, which are all related to improving throat problems a ...

Chinese herbal medicines for hyperthyroidism

Categories: Miscellaneous disorders

A systematic review has been carried out to assess the effects of Chinese herbal medicines for treating hyperthyroidism. The authors searched Western and Chinese biomedical databases and identified 13 relevant trials with 1770 participants, all of which were deemed to be of low methodological quality. Compared with antithyroid drugs alone, the results suggested that Chinese herbal medicines in com ...

Scalp acupuncture for autism

Categories: Babies & children / paediatrics, Psychological / emotional, Autism

Scalp acupuncture (SAP) may improve language development in children with autism. Twenty autistic children (4-7 years old) were divided into two groups, both of which underwent twice-weekly sessions of language therapy aimed at stimulation of cognitive and verbal abilities, over a period of nine months. Half of them also received twice-weekly SAP sessions using Baihui DU-20, Renzhong DU-26, Naohu ...

Acupuncture reduces scoliosis

Categories: Miscellaneous disorders, Back

One session of acupuncture seems to have an influence on the deformity of some scoliosis patients. In a controlled single blind crossover study, verum acupuncture, carried out according to TCM principles, was compared with sham acupuncture and just lying in a group of 24 girls with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. In a subgroup of patients with Cobb's angle (a measurement used for evaluation of cu ...

Acupuncture cost-effective for allergic rhinitis

Categories: Hay fever, Nose and mouth, Allergies

A German study has assessed the cost-effectiveness of adjunctive acupuncture treatment for allergic rhinitis. 981 patients were randomly allocated to two groups; both received usual care, but one group additionally received ten acupuncture sessions. Quality of life and direct and indirect costs were assessed at baseline and after three months, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of acupun ...

Auricular acupuncture improves short sightedness

Categories: Eye disorders

A Taiwanese RCT has compared the effect of auricular acupuncture as an adjunct to atropine eye drops in the treatment of paediatric myopia. 71 children with myopia were randomly assigned to three groups: treatment with 0.25% atropine (0.25A) only, treatment with 0.5% atropine (0.5A) only and treatment with 0.25% atropine combined with stimulation of the auricular acupoints (0.25A+E). The primary o ...

Acupuncture for spinal cord injuries

Categories: Spinal cord

A paper by American researchers has reviewed the allopathic and Chinese literature discussing the use of acupuncture in the treatment of acute and chronic spinal cord injuries (SCI). They present the neurophysiologic mechanisms for acupuncture's effects along with evidence that use of electroacupuncture in acute SCI may significantly improve long-term neurologic recovery in terms of motor, sensory ...

Acupuncture as good as steroids for carpal tunnel

Categories: Hand & wrist

Taiwanese researchers have found short term acupuncture to be as effective as short-term low-dose prednisolone for mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Seventy-seven CTS patients were randomly divided into two treatment arms: drug treatment consisting of four weeks of prednisolone (20mg daily for two weeks, then 10mg daily for two weeks) or acupuncture administered in eight sessions over ...

Acupuncture in the treatment of meniere's syndrome

Categories: Ear/hearing disorders

A systematic review of acupuncture studies for treatment of Meniere's syndrome suggests that it may be beneficial. UK researchers searched for randomised, non-randomised and observational studies in English and Chinese across six databases. Twenty-seven studies of varying quality were included in the review (nine in English and 18 in Chinese languages), all but one of which was conducted in China. ...

Red yeast rice reduces cholesterol in statin-intolerant patients

Categories: Miscellaneous disorders

Red yeast rice (Hong Qu) may be an effective alternative treatment for people with high cholesterol who cannot tolerate statins. Sixty two patients with dyslipidemia, who had discontinued statin therapy due to muscle pain, were assigned to receive red yeast rice (1800mg) or placebo twice daily for 24 weeks. All patients were also enrolled in a 12-week therapeutic lifestyle change program. Low-dens ...

Acupuncture for acute trauma

Categories: Miscellaneous disorders

A feasibility study carried out in an emergency department (ED) in the USA suggests that acupuncture can be an effective analgesic intervention for patients who have suffered minor acute trauma to the extremities. Acupuncture was used as primary analgesia for 20 patients who presented at the ED with acute, non-penetrating extremity injuries. The median visual analog scale change in pain for pre- v ...