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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 BENEFICIAL FOR INCONTINENCE

Categories: Kidney / Urinary disorders

A pilot study carried out in the USA has found preliminary evidence of the benefits of acupuncture in the treatment of incontinence in women. Nine women (aged 44 to 66) with urge, mixed urge and stress urinary incontinence were randomised to receive true acupuncture or a sham needle control. Subjects who received true acupuncture had a mean 63.30% reduction in daytime accidents per day at one week ...

SHENMEN HE-7 AND SLEEP PATTERNS

Categories: Insomnia/sleep disorders

A French study has shown that stimulating Shenmen HE-7 in healthy patients by fixing Polyether Block Amides; Isocones bilaterally to the points decreased wakefulness and increased non-REM sleep and thus total sleep time. (Buguet, A., Sartre, M., Kerneau, J. Neurophysiologie Clinique, 1995; 25(2): 78-83).

AURICULAR THERAPY PROMOTES SLEEP

Categories: Insomnia/sleep disorders

A study carried out by researchers from Hong Kong Polytechnic University's School of Nursing and Hong Kong Baptists University has found that auricular therapy using magnetic pearls is the most effective in promoting sleep in older people. 120 participants over the age of 60 were randomly allocated to receive auricular therapy using either Deng Xin Cao (Medulla Junci Effusi), Wang Bu Liu Xing (Sem ...

ACUPUNCTURE, INSOMNIA & MELATONIN

Categories: Insomnia/sleep disorders

In a study of 18 anxious subjects, five weeks of acupuncture treatment was associated with significant improvements in a variety of sleep determinants (polysomnographic measures of sleep onset latency, arousal index, total sleep time and sleep efficiency), reduction in anxiety and nocturnal increase in endogenous melatonin secretion. (J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2004 Winter;16(1):19-28).

ACUPUNCTURE FOR INSOMNIA

Categories: Insomnia/sleep disorders

A systematic review of the evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of insomnia concludes that current evidence is insufficient to support its use in this condition. The authors examined the major biomedical and CAM databases, along with BiblioSleep, a specialist directory of sleep-related papers. They searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating any form of acupunc ...

AURICULAR ACUPUNCTURE EFFECTIVE FOR INSOMNIA

Categories: Insomnia/sleep disorders

A systematic review of current literature conducted by authors from Hong Kong has concluded that auricular acupuncture appears to be effective for treating insomnia. Eight hundred and seventy eight (878) papers were searched of which only six trials (402 people treated with AA among 673 total participants) were deemed of high enough methodological quality to meet the inclusion criteria. The recove ...

ACUPUNCTURE FOR INSOMNIA

Categories: Insomnia/sleep disorders

A randomised single-blind trial has examined the efficacy of abdominal acupuncture as a treatment for insomnia. In the Chinese study, 44 women (aged 22 to 56) were randomly assigned to receive acupuncture or medication. The acupuncture group received abdominal acupuncture once a day for the first three days and once every three days for the remaining 11 days. Abdominal acupuncture was administered ...

ACUPRESSURE AT SHENMEN FOR INSOMNIA

Categories: Insomnia/sleep disorders

An acupressure device located on Shenmen HE-7 has been evaluated as a treatment for insomnia by Italian researchers. Forty patients with insomnia were divided into two groups and randomly received either the

ACUPUNCTURE BETTER THAN PILLS FOR INSOMNIA

Categories: Insomnia/sleep disorders

A systematic review of studies of acupuncture for insomnia, including papers published in both English and Chinese, has been carried out by researchers in Hong Kong. Twenty RCTs met the inclusion criteria. The majority of RCTs concluded that traditional needle acupuncture (TNA) was significantly more effective than benzodiazepines for treating insomnia, with mean effective rates for acupuncture an ...

ACUPRESSURE AT HE-7 HELPS WITH INSOMNIA

Categories: Insomnia/sleep disorders

An Italian study has evaluated the efficacy of acupressure at Shenmen HE-7 in treating insomnia. 25 patients affected by sleep disorders were enrolled, of whom 14 had cancer. All were treated by acupressure stimulation acupressure at Shenmen HE-7 for at least two consecutive weeks using a medical device called 'H7 Insomnia Control'. An improvement in sleep quality was seen in 60% of patients, with ...

GINSENG PREVENTS 'FLU

Categories: Immunity

Older nursing home residents, 90% of whom had received the current ‘flu vaccine, who received an extract of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.) in the form of the proprietary product Cold-FX, were 86% less likely to contract influenza than those who receive a placebo. (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Vol. 52, January 2004, pp. 13-19).

Herbs boost immunity

Categories: Immunity, Herb research

In a study on 16 healthy subjects it was found that Echinacea purpurea, Huang Qi (Astragali Radix) and Gan Cao (Glycyrrhizae Radix) were effective in boosting key blood lymphocytes, the basic building block of the immune system. Echinacea and Gan Cao stimulated proliferation of CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells and NK cells, all three herbs (administered either singly or in combination) were able to activa ...

ACUPUNCTURE BALANCES ANXIOUS IMMUNE SYSTEM

Categories: Immunity

Acupuncture has been found to counteract impairment of the immune system associated with anxiety. Thirty-four female patients, 30-60 years old, suffering from anxiety, received ten acupuncture sessions during the course of a year (leading to complete remission in all cases). Sessions lasted 30 min and 19 points were used. Blood samples were taken from all patients before and 72 hours after the fir ...

American ginseng & colds

Categories: Immunity

Consumption of North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) appears to confer some immunity to catching colds. Two hundred and seventy-nine subjects were randomised to receive either 400mg of freeze-dried ginseng or placebo for four months. Consumption of the ginseng was a associated with a decreased mean number of colds and reduced total symptom scores and days of illness. (Predy GN et al. Effica ...

Acupuncture benefits immunity

Categories: Immunity

Japanese researchers have investigated the effect of acupuncture on the human immune system. They measured CD-positive cell counts and cytokine expression levels in the peripheral blood of fifteen healthy volunteers before and after acupuncture, to determine the activity of T cells, B cells, macrophages and natural killer (NK) cells. There was a statistically significant increase in the number of ...

ASTRALAGUS EXTRACT FIGHTS HIV AND AGEING

Categories: Immunity

A drug extracted from a Chinese herb traditionally used to boost the immune system has been found to help immune cells fight HIV and could possibly slow the ageing process. Cells lose the ability to divide as they age because their telomeres (caps of repetitive DNA found at the ends of chromosomes) become progressively shorter with each cell division. As a result, in the case of immune cells, path ...

CHINESE MEDICINE AND AIDS

Categories: HIV / AIDS

Research carried out at the American College of TCM's HIV clinic programme, based on quarterly health surveys, demonstrated that the following symptoms were most responsive to treatment by Chinese medicine: weight loss, enlarged lymph nodes, abdominal pain, nausea and headaches. For other symptoms such as neuropathy, sore throat and common cold, the findings were more ambiguous. The research will ...

ACUPUNCTURE AND HIV PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY

Categories: HIV / AIDS

Although both acupuncture and the antidepressant amitriptyline are used to treat pain due to HIV-related nerve damage, neither treatment has been found to be effective. More than 30% of patients infected with HIV develop peripheral neuropathy. 250 HIV-positive patients with peripheral neuropathy were tested over the course of 14 weeks. Some received true acupuncture on acupuncture points recommend ...

ACUPUNCTURE HELPS COUNTER AIDS DRUGS SIDE-EFFECTS

Categories: HIV / AIDS

In a study of 50 HIV-infected adults (half with full-blown AIDS) taking HIV medicines, all initially complained of at least two digestive side-effects: gas (80%), bloating (40%), cramps (50%), appetite loss (50%) and loss of weight (10%). All participants received six weeks of acupuncture - the first three weeks at acupuncture points designed to treat digestive symptoms and the last three weeks at ...

ACUPUNCTURE IN ANGINA PECTORIS

Categories: Heart / Cardiac

A study carried out at the Department of Internal Medicine P. Rigshospitalet in Denmark found that acupuncture treatment decreased the time of onset of attacks of angina pectoris pain by 10%, reduced nitroglycerin consumption by 58%, and reduced the attack rate by 38%. There was additionally a noticeable improvement in exercise tolerance among the treated patients. The study also showed that there ...