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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 & KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Categories: Knee

Another German trial has shown a significant benefit for acupuncture treatment (in this case in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee), yet with no significant difference between true and sham acupuncture. In this large trial of 1007 patients (treated by 320 different practitioners in 315 primary care practices), who had had chronic pain from knee arthritis for over six months, a minimum 36% ...

OPTIMAL ACUPUNCTURE FOR KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Categories: Knee

A review of recent research into acupuncture treatment for osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee explores whether any aspects of treatment are more likely to be associated with good outcomes. Based on their evaluation of four recent randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and a systematic review (which included 13 RCTs), the authors speculate that optimal results from acupuncture treatment for OA of the kne ...

ACUPUNCTURE FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE

Categories: Knee

A meta-analysis by American researchers has evaluated the effects of acupuncture in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Biomedical databases were searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs), longer than six weeks in duration, which compared needle acupuncture with sham, usual care, or a waiting list control group. Eleven trials met the selection criteria and nine reported sufficient da ...

ACUPUNCTURE EFFECTIVE FOR KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Categories: Knee

A review, carried out by American researchers, of ten randomised, controlled trials (1456 participants) of acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee have concluded that it is an effective treatment for the pain and physical dysfunction caused by the condition. (Acupuncture and osteoarthritis of the knee: a review of randomized, controlled trials. Fam Community Health. 2008 Jul-Sep;31(3):247-54).

ACUPUNCTURE IMPROVES SYMPTOMS OF KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Categories: Knee

A blinded randomised trial of acupuncture has compared the effect of acupuncture with that of a non-penetrating sham in patients with osteoarthritic knee pain. Sixty-eight acupuncture naïve patients with symptomatic and radiological evidence of osteoarthritis of the knee were randomly allocated to a course of either acupuncture or non-penetrating sham acupuncture using a sheathed 'placebo' needle ...

ACUPUNCTURE IMPROVES CHRONIC KNEE PAIN

Categories: Knee

A meta-analysis has evaluated the effects of acupuncture on pain and function in patients with chronic knee pain. Combining data from five randomised controlled studies judged to have high validity (1334 patients), acupuncture was found to be superior to sham acupuncture for both pain and function. The differences were still significant at long-term follow-up. (Acupuncture treatment for chronic kn ...

ACUPUNCTURE DELAYED EFFECT IN KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Categories: Knee

An RCT carried out in Israel has assessed the efficacy of acupuncture in providing improved function and pain relief when used as an adjunctive therapy to standard care in elderly patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Fifty-five patients were randomly divided into an intervention group that received eight weeks of biweekly acupuncture treatment and a control group that received sham acupu ...

ACUPUNCTURE IMPROVES KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Categories: Knee

Research from a team in Pakistan has shown that improvement in subjective measures of pain in knee osteoarthritis after electro-acupuncture (EA) was correlated with changes in biomarkers associated with stress and pain. Forty patients aged 40 years and over received ten daily 25 minute sessions of either EA (with points selected according to TCM theory) or sham acupuncture (with needles inserted a ...

ACUPUNCTURE AND HIP PAIN

Categories: Hip

A study carried out by anaesthetists at Cheltenham General Hospital compared the acupuncture and steroid injection treatment of patients with osteoarthritis of the hip. All patients had suffered chronic pain for more than twelve months and were awaiting hip arthroplasty. The acupuncture group received periosteal needling to the greater trochanter with three needles (three, weekly treatments), whil ...

Ear acupuncture and hip pain

Categories: Hip

A study which compared auricular press needles inserted at specific points for hip pain (hip joint, lung, Shenmen, thalamus) with similar needles inserted in auricular non-points, in 61 patients one day before and for three days after total hip arthroplasty surgery, found that the true points group used 32% less analgesics than the non-point group. (Pain 2005; 114: 320-7).

HERBAL MEDICINES FOR DYSMENORRHOEA

Categories: Gynaecological

In a Japanese study, two herbal medicine prescriptions administered alternately within the menstrual cycle were found to have powerful antidysmenorrhoeic effects. The two prescriptions were Shakuyaku-kanzo-to (Shao Yao Gan Cao Tang/Peony & Licorice Decoction) and Toki-shakuyaku-san (Dang Gui Shao Yao San/Tangkuei and Peony powder). All 17 dysmenorrhea patients in the study, including recurrent ...

ACUPUNCTURE & ENDOMETRIAL PAIN

Categories: Gynaecological

A study of 101 women (aged 20 to 40), of whom 83 completed the trial, with laparoscopic-proofed endometriosis, randomised them to one of two groups. The first received specific acupuncture for the condition while the other were treated at non-specific points (points with no relation to the diagnosis). Treatment was given twice weekly for ten weeks. After a two month interval, the two groups change ...

ACUPRESSURE & DYSMENORRHOEA

Categories: Gynaecological

In a study which compared acupressure at Sanyinjiao SP-6 with simple resting for female technical college students in Taiwan suffering from dysmenorrhoea, the acupressure - whether in the form of treatment or self-treatment - was found to significantly reduce pain. (J Adv Nurs. 2004 Nov; 48(4):380-7)

ACUPUNCTURE COST-EFFECTIVE FOR PERIOD PAIN

Categories: Gynaecological

A pragmatic randomised study has evaluated the clinical and economic effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of women with dysmenorrhoea. 201 patients were allocated to receive either up to 15 acupuncture sessions over three months or no acupuncture. Both groups additionally received usual medical care. Outcome measures of pain intensity and quality of life were recorded at baseline and afte ...

CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE BETTER THAN DRUGS FOR DYSMENORRHOEA

Categories: Gynaecological

The evidence supporting the use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for primary dysmenorrhoea is promising, but better quality research on the subject is still required. These are the conclusions of a systematic review by Australian researchers, which included 39 RCTs involving a total of 3475 women. CHM was found to result in significant improvements in pain relief, overall symptoms and use of addit ...

JAPANESE-STYLE ACUPUNCTURE FOR ADOLESCENT ENDOMETRIOSIS PAIN

Categories: Gynaecological

A US randomised, sham-controlled pilot study has assessed the use of Japanese-style acupuncture for reducing chronic pelvic pain and improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adolescents with endometriosis. Eighteen young women (13-22 years) with laparoscopically-diagnosed endometriosis-related chronic pelvic pain were treated with either Japanese style acupuncture or sham acupuncture. P ...

ACUPUNCTURE AND FOOT PAIN

Categories: Foot

A study on 67 patients with medically unresponsive foot pain (despite treatment by such methods as orthotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, analgesics, physical therapy, exercise, local injections of steroids and analgesics and surgery) showed that acupuncture provided complete relief of symptoms in 31 cases and better than 75% relief in 19. The points found to be most effective were ...

ACUPUNCTURE & PLANTAR FASCIITIS

Categories: Foot

Researchers from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center have confirmed that acupuncture is an effective treatment for plantar fasciitis, one of the most common causes of heel pain. 11 patients who had suffered from plantar fasciitis for at least two months were referred for treatment after conventional methods had failed. Treatment was given to the affected foot once weekly, for a maximum of six trea ...

ACUPUNCTURE EASES HEEL PAIN

Categories: Foot

Acupuncture at Daling P-7 has been found to provide specific relief from the pain of plantar fasciitis. Hong Kong researchers randomly assigned 53 patients to a treatment group that received needling at Daling P-7 (said to have a specific effect on heel pain) or to a control group that received needling at the general analgesic point Hegu L.I.-4. Treatment was administered five times a week for tw ...

ELECTROACUPUNCTURE FOR DENTAL SURGERY PAIN

Categories: Facial

A Brazilian study has concluded that electroacupuncture (EA) is effective at controlling postoperative pain after dental surgery. Twenty-four patients with symmetrically impacted mandibular third molars were selected. Each patient was submitted to two separate surgical procedures under local anesthesia. On one side, extraction was carried out using EA both 24 hours prior to, and immediately after ...