A number of recent scientific studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of acupuncture treatments. Acupuncture is a technique that aims to reduce pain and restore health and well being by inserting and manipulating needles into points on the body.
Acupuncture has been around for thousands of years. In China, the practice of acupuncture may be traced as far back as the Stone Age where they used sharpened stones instead of needles. “Different types of acupuncture (Classical Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, and Korean acupuncture) are practiced and taught throughout the world.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture)
Acupuncture and Surgical Pain Reduction
In a study released in October of 2007 researcher proposed that the use of acupuncture before and during surgery reduces patients’ post-operative pain as well as the need for pain-killing medication. According to Researchers at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina an analysis of the results of 15 clinical trials on the effectiveness of acupuncture indicated that:
The use of acupuncture before and during surgery reduces patients’ post-operative pain as well as the need for pain-killing medication… These patients also required less morphine or other opioid pain medication after surgery, which reduced the side effects like nausea and vomiting from these types of drugs, the researchers said.
The National Institutes of Health also says that acupuncture has also been shown to reduce nausea after chemotherapy and surgery. (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/21334682/)
Scientists still don’t fully understand how acupuncture works. Some think it might help increase the levels of the body’s natural pain-killing chemicals.
Acupuncture and Improved Fertility
In a recent study released February 2008, a scientific review suggests that acupuncture might improve the success of conception if done right before or after embryos are placed in the womb using in vitro fertilization.
The analysis was led by Eric Manheimer, a researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and paid for by a federal agency, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Results were published Friday in the British medical journal, BMJ.
Acupuncture is thought to increase blood flow to the uterus, relax the cervix and inhibit “fight or flight” stress hormones that can make it tougher for an embryo to implant, Manheimer said.
The analysis pools results from seven studies on 1,366 women in the United States, Germany, Australia and Denmark who are having in vitro fertilization, or IVF. It involves mixing sperm and eggs in a lab dish to create embryos that are placed in the womb.
Individually, only three of the studies found acupuncture beneficial, three found a trend toward benefit and one found no benefit. When results of these smaller studies were pooled, researchers found that the odds of conceiving went up about 65 percent for women given acupuncture. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23057790/)
Acupuncture May Reduce Blood Pressure
A study published in June of 2007 showed that acupuncture was effective in reducing blood pressure.
In this study, 160 patients in Germany and China with mild to moderate hypertension were randomized to receive acupuncture (performed by Chinese physicians accredited in acupuncture. Patients underwent 22 sessions of 30 minutes each over a period of six weeks.
At the end of that time, the systolic and diastolic blood pressures in patients receiving traditional Chinese acupuncture were significantly reduced (by approximately 5 mm Hg and 3 mm Hg, respectively).
Unfortunately, when acupuncture was discontinued their blood pressures returned to baseline values within three months. (http://heartdisease.about.com/od/hypertension/a/acupunctureBP.htm)
I would expect that future studies should continue to find reasons to include acupuncture as a complimentary treatment, particularly when done by professionals. Like other medical treatments there will be examples of the limitations of acupuncture as well.
0 comments:
Post a Comment