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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.

ACUPUNCTURE FOR PELVIC AND BACK PAIN IN PREGNANCY

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

In this Swedish study, 72 pregnant women (24-37 weeks) suffering pelvic or low back pain were randomly assigned to an acupuncture group or a control group. Traditional acupuncture points and ahshi points were needled (with deqi elicited) in individualised treatments, once or twice a week until disappearance of symptoms or delivery in the acupuncture group. Treatment was given for at least three we ...

ACUPUNCTURE EFFECTIVE FOR PELVIC PAIN IN PREGNANCY

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

One in three women suffer potentially severe and disabling pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. Now a Swedish study has demonstrated that acupuncture is more effective than either standard or specialised exercises in relieving the pain. 386 pregnant women were assigned to a six-week treatment programme involving either standard home exercise, standard exercise plus acupuncture or specialised exerc ...

SHIATSU HELPS POST-TERM LABOUR

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

Pregnant post-term women who were taught shiatsu techniques by a midwife were significantly more likely to go into labour spontaneously compared to women who did not learn the technique. (Complement Ther Med 2005; 13: 11-15).

ACUPUNCTURE REDUCES EPIDURALS

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

A Norwegian study has shown that women who receive acupuncture during labour have a significantly reduced rate of epidural anaesthesia. (Nesheim BI, Kinge R. Performance of acupuncture as labor analgesia in the clinical setting. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2006;85(4):441-3).

PREBIRTH ACUPUNCTURE

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

A study of prebirth acupuncture given in the practices of 14 New Zealand midwives over a four-month period found a 35% reduction in induction rates (43% for primigravidae), 31% reduction in epidurals, 32% reduction in emergency caesarean sections and 9% increase in normal vaginal birth compared to the general population. The most commonly used points were Sanyinjiao SP-6, Zusanli ST-36, Yanglingqu ...

ACUPUNCTURE & PELVIC PAIN

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

Acupuncture has previously been shown to be more effective than either standard or specialised exercises in relieving pelvic pain in pregnancy (BMJ 2005;330:761). Now a new study has compared subcutaneous needling without further stimulation and deep needling with deqi for the same problem. Both groups experienced significant improvements in levels of pain intensity at rest and in daily activities ...

ACUPUNCTURE & LABOUR PAIN

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

A meta-analysis of three trials (496 women) into the use of acupuncture to relieve pain in labour suggests that women receiving acupuncture required less analgesia, including the need for epidural analgesic and a reduced need for augmentation with oxytocin. (Complementary and alternative therapies for pain management in labour. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2006 Issue 4).

ACUPUNCTURE & BREECH PRESENTATION

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

A study of the effectiveness and cost of moxibustion for breech presentation compared to standard care found that the percentage of breech presentations after moxibustion was 24.5% compared to 42% for standard care, and that if only 10% of women opted for moxibustion it would overall be more effective and less costly than standard care. (The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Breech Version A ...

ACUPUNCTURE FOR LABOUR INDUCTION

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

Fifty-six primigravid women at 39 weeks or greater with a singleton gestation and Bishop score (a system for predicting whether induction of labour will be required) of less than seven were randomised to usual medical care or usual care plus three acupuncture treatments. Each treatment consisted of eight needles applied bilaterally to Hegu L.I.-4, Sanyinjiao SP-6, Shangliao BL-31 and Ciliao BL-32. ...

Acupuncture/pressure for morning sickness

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

A meta-analysis has examined the effects of various methods for stimulating acupuncture points (acustimulation, AS) for the prevention of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women (NVP). The authors identified 14 eligible trials published over the last 16 years, involving a total of 1615 women and using either acupressure, acupuncture or electrical stimulation (ETS) as a method of AS. After the treatm ...

TREATING PELVIC AND BACK PAIN IN PREGNANCY

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

A systematic review using the Cochrane database has assessed the effects of interventions for preventing and treating back and pelvic pain in pregnancy. Authors searched the Cochrane database for randomised controlled trials of any treatment used to prevent or reduce the incidence or severity of back or pelvic pain in pregnancy. Eight studies (1305 participants from five countries) were included i ...

ACUPUNCTURE PROMISING FOR PELVIC PAIN

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

A systematic review of the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating pelvic and back pain in pregnancy has found promising results. Two small trials on mixed pelvic/back pain and one large high-quality trial on pelvic pain met the inclusion criteria. The authors concluded that the current evidence, although limited, supports the use of acupuncture in treating the conditions. (Acupuncture for pelvic ...

ACUPUNCTURE EFFECTIVE FOR BREECH CORRECTION

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

A systematic review from Holland has concluded that acupuncture-type interventions (moxibustion, acupuncture, or electro-acupuncture) on Zhiyin BL 67 are effective in correcting breech presentation, compared with expectant management. Of 65 citations retrieved from various databases, six RCTs and three cohort studies fulfilled the reviewer's inclusion criteria. In the RCTs the pooled proportion of ...

ACUPUNCTURE FOR PELVIC GIRDLE PAIN (PGP) DURING PREGNANCY

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

Swedish researchers have compared acupuncture with non-penetrating sham acupuncture in women with pelvic girdle pain (PGP) during pregnancy. In a randomised double-blinded controlled trial 115 pregnant women with PGP were randomly allocated to standard treatment plus acupuncture or to standard treatment plus non-penetrating sham acupuncture for eight weeks. After treatment, median pain decreased i ...

ACUPUNCTURE SHORTENS LABOUR

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

A Canadian team has investigated the effectiveness of acupuncture for the initiation of labour in a prospective pilot RCT. Sixteen pregnant women at term were randomly assigned to receive acupuncture either at sites reported to cause onset of labour or at nearby sham sites. The results showed a difference in intervention to delivery interval of 62 hours in favour of the treatment group. Women in t ...

ACUPUNCTURE IN LABOUR IMPROVES BABIES CONDITION AT BIRTH

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

Researchers in Denmark have compared acupuncture with transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) and analgesic medication for pain relief during labour. 607 healthy women in labour at term were randomised to receive acupuncture, TENS or analgesics. Pain scores were comparable in all groups, but use of pharmacological and invasive methods was found to be significantly lower in the acupuncture ...

ACUPUNCTURE RELIEVES DYSPEPSIA IN PREGNANCY

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

Acupuncture may help alleviate dyspepsia during pregnancy, according to a Brazilian team. Forty-two pregnant women with dyspepsia were randomly allocated to receive acupuncture or conventional treatment alone. Significant improvements in symptoms were found in the acupuncture group, who also used less medication. (Acupuncture for dyspepsia in pregnancy: a prospective, randomised, controlled study. ...

AURICULAR ACUPUNCTURE FOR LOW BACK & PELVIC PAIN IN PREGNANCY

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

One week of continuous auricular acupuncture decreases the pain and disability experienced by women with pregnancy-related low back and posterior pelvic pain. In a randomised controlled trial, American clinicians randomly assigned pregnant women to continuous auricular acupuncture, sham auricular acupuncture or a waiting list control. All participants were monitored for two weeks. Participants in ...

GINGER STOPS NAUSEA AND VOMITING IN PREGNANCY

Categories: Pregnancy & labour

Ginger (Sheng Jiang) is an effective remedy for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. A single blind clinical trial carried out in Iran randomly assigned 67 pregnant women to receive either 1000 mg ginger in capsules or placebo capsules for four days. Ginger users demonstrated a higher rate of nausea improvement than placebo users (85% versus 56%). The decrease in vomiting among ginger users was a ...

ACUPUNCTURE & TENNIS ELBOW

Categories: Tennis Elbow

Of 55 patients with chronic lateral epicondylitis, 23 were treated with real acupuncture and 22 received sham acupuncture, all receiving 10 treatments, with two treatments per week. At two weeks and 2 months after the end of treatment, there were significant reductions in pain intensity and improvements in the function of the arm and in maximal strength in both treatment groups. At 2-weeks all the ...