Publications

Effects of acupuncture and moxa treatment in patients with semen abnormalities.

Gurfinkel E.  Asian J Androl - 01-DEC-2003; 5(4): 345-8

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of Chinese Traditional Medicine, acupuncture and moxa treatment, on the semen quality in patients with semen abnormalities.

METHODS: In a prospective, controlled and blind study, nineteen patients, aged 24 years approximately 42 years and married for 3 years approximately 11 years without children with semen abnormalities in concentration, morphology and/or progressive motility without apparent cause, were randomized into two groups and submitted to acupuncture and moxa treatment at the therapeutic (Study Group) and the indifferent points (Control Group), respectively, for 10 weeks. Semen analysis were performed before and after the treatment course.

RESULTS: The patients of the Study Group presented a significant increase in the percentage of normal-form sperm compared to the Control Group (calculated U=16.0, critical U=17.0).

CONCLUSION: The Chinese Traditional Medicine acupuncture and moxa techniques significantly increase the percentage of normal-form sperm in infertile patients with oligoastenoteratozoospermia without apparent cause.

Siterman S; Eltes F; Wolfson V; Zabludovsky N; Bartoov B Institute of Chinese Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel.  Arch Androl, 39(2):155-61 1997 Sep-Oct (ISSN: 0148-5016)

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of acupuncture on the sperm quality of males suffering from subfertility related to sperm impairment.

METHODS: Semen samples of 16 acupuncture-treated subfertile patients were analyzed before and 1 month after treatment (twice a week for 5 weeks). In parallel, semen samples of 16 control untreated subfertile males were examined. Two specimens were taken from the control group at an interval of 2-8 months. The expanded semen analysis included routine and ultramorphological observations.

RESULTS:  The fertility index increased significantly (p < or = .05) following improvement in total functional sperm fraction, percentage of viability, total motile spermatozoa per ejaculate, and integrity of the axonema (p < or = .05), which occurred upon treatment. The intactness of axonema and sperm motility were highly correlated (corr. = .50, p < or = .05).

CONCLUSION:  Patients exhibiting a low fertility potential due to reduced sperm activity may benefit from acupuncture treatment.

Protocol of cervical maturation by acupuncture.

Tremeau ML, Fontanie-Ravier P, Teurnier F, Demouzon.  J Gynecol Obstet Biol Reprod (Paris). 1992;21(4):375-80.

Protocol was carried out on 98 patients who were divided into three groups selected as one control group, two "placebo" group, and three treated with acupuncture. This protocol showed that it was possible to improve cervical maturation if acupuncture sessions were carried out at the beginning of the 9th month. The Bishop scores in the three groups after 10 days interval show that there was a significant progression of 2.61 points in the group treated with acupuncture as against only 0.89 and 1.08 in the placebo and control groups.

Acupuncture for recurrent headaches: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Melchart D, et al. Cephalalgia 1999;19:779-786.

Acupuncture is widely used in the management of headaches. It can be applied as a single form of care, or as part of a comprehensive treatment program. Despite its popularity, however, there are still debates as to what role acupuncture plays in reducing or eliminating pain associated with recurrent headaches.

In the November 1999 issue of Cephalalgia, scientists from the Research Center for Complementary Medicine at Technische Universitat in Munich evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture in combating headaches by systematically reviewing 22 randomized controlled trials. Included in the review were studies comparing acupuncture with any type of control intervention for the treatment of migraine or recurrent headaches.

Specifically, the authors sought to discover whether acupuncture is I) more effective than no treatment at all; II) more effective than "sham" acupuncture; or III) as effective as other headache interventions.

Of the 22 studies, 15 examined patients with migraine headaches; six involved patients with tension headaches; and one trial studied patients with various headaches. One of the migraine trials was conducted on children.

Fourteen of the trials compared true acupuncture versus sham procedures. Five trials compared acupuncture to various drug treatments. Two studies compared acupuncture to physiotherapy, and one three-pronged study compared acupuncture with a behavioral program and a no-treatment group.

A total of 1,042 patients were examined. The average treatment period lasted nine weeks and included eight treatment sessions.

Acupuncture fared most favorably when compared to sham treatments. Nine of the 14 trials comparing true and sham acupuncture in migraine and tension-type headache patients either "showed trends in favor of acupuncture" or had patients who "did significantly better than those in the sham acupuncture group."

Trials comparing acupuncture to other forms of headache intervention, however, displayed contradictory results. In one study, patients in a behavioral therapy group reported less medication use and less headaches than the acupuncture group. In another study, patients receiving the drug metroprolol suffered more side effects but had better scores in terms of lower frequency, duration and intensity of headaches.

"The widespread use of acupuncture, the promising results, and the often insufficient quality of the available studies warrant further research," the scientists said. Future studies, they believe, "should follow specific guidelines for headache trials for inclusion criteria, classification of headaches, control of co-interventions and outcome measurement, as well as general guidelines for reporting."

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that acupuncture "has a role in the treatment of recurrent headaches." They added that while the small sample sizes and overall quality of the studies prohibited them from making a straightforward recommendation of acupuncture, the treatment "seems to be relatively safe in the hands of qualified providers. Therefore, we conclude that headache patients who want to try acupuncture should not be discouraged."

Acupuncture treatment of chronic tension headache--a controlled cross-over trial.           

Hansen PE, Hansen JH. Cephalagia An International Journal of Headache. 1985; 5: 137-142

In a controlled trial the effect of traditional Chinese acupuncture v. placebo acupuncture was evaluated in 18 patients with chronic tension headache (mean disease duration 15 years). All patients suffered from daily or frequently recurring headache, the intensity of which was recorded by the patient over a period of 15 weeks. Each patient was treated by traditional Chinese acupuncture as well as by placebo acupuncture in a cross-over design following randomization. Each period of treatment comprised six treatments. Traditional Chinese acupuncture was found to be significantly more pain-relieving than placebo acupuncture, according to the pain registration of the patients themselves. The pain reduction was 31%. Acupuncture is therefore found to be a reasonable treatment for chronic tension headache.

Acupuncture versus metoprolol in migraine prophylaxis: a randomized trial of trigger point inactivation.

Hesse J, Mogelvang B, Simonsen H. Journal of Internal Medicine. 1994; 235: 451-456.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the effects of dry needling of myofascial trigger points in the neck region to metoprolol in migraine prophylaxis.

INTERVENTIONS: After a 4-week run-in period, patients were allocated to a 17-week regimen either with acupuncture and placebo tablets or to placebo stimulation and metoprolol 100 mg daily.

RESULTS: Both groups exhibited significant reduction in attack frequency (P < 0.01). No difference was found between the groups regarding frequency (P > 0.20) or duration (P > 0.10) of attacks, whereas we found a significant difference in global rating of attacks in favor of metoprolol (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Trigger point inactivation by dry needling is a valuable supplement to the list of migraine prophylactic tools, being equipotent to metoprolol in the influence on frequency and duration (but not severity) of attacks, and superior in terms of negative side-effects.

Study shows acupuncture works to relieve arthritis pain

Last Updated Mon, 20 Dec 2004 20:09:10 EST

TORONTO - Combining acupuncture with standard drug therapy can relieve pain and improve movement in people with arthritis of the knee, according to a new study. "For the first time, a clinical trial with sufficient rigor, size, and duration has shown that acupuncture reduces the pain and functional impairment of osteoarthritis of the knee," said Dr. Stephen Straus in a release.

The results also suggest acupuncture can help improve quality of life for people with knee osteoarthritis, added Straus, a director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the U.S. government agency that funds medical research.

In the trial, Dr. Brian Berman of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and his colleagues studied 570 patients with an average age of 65 who had osteoarthritis of the knee.

Participants were randomly assigned to receive one of three treatments for 26 weeks, in addition to standard care such as anti-inflammatory medications and pain relievers:

• Acupuncture – inserting thin needles into certain body points to stimulate improved health.

• Sham acupuncture – patients feel some sensation from a needle but it isn't actually inserted.

• A self-help course for managing pain.

By week eight, patients receiving true acupuncture began showing a significant increase in function and by week 14 a significant decrease in pain, compared to those in the other groups, Berman's team reported in the Dec. 21 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine

Treatment of Fibromyalgia with Acupuncture

Fibromyalgia is a chronic painful musculoskeletal syndrome of unknown aetiology, characterized by generalized pains in the connective tissues of the body and specific area of knotted muscle fiber - called "trigger points" which are especially painful. It is generally treated with a combination of analgesics and vigorous massage.

(1) A new study has been carried out to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating pain levels and decreasing the number of tender points in fibromyalgia patients. Twenty nine patients with at least a six year history of fibromyalgia were given acupuncture and tested by using a pain scale and by dolorimetry (a method of measuring pain perception in degrees ranging from unpleasant to unbearable by using heat applied to the skin). No other pain medication was taken. Pain levels were found to decrease from 64.0 to 34.5 after acupuncture, with a decrease in the number of tender points from 16.0 to 11.8. Results also showed an increase in certain blood chemicals (serotonin and substance P) which help to regulate pain.

(Pain treatment of fibromyalgia by acupuncture. Sprott H, Franke S, Kluge H, Hein G. Rheumatol Int 1998;18(1):35- 36).

(2) A recent review of the literature on the treatment of fibromyalgia using acupuncture showed improvements in the myalgic index, in the number of trigger points, and in quality of life for the patients.

(Current Pain Headache Report 2002;6(5):379-83)

Tennis elbow, also called lateral epicondylitis, is a painful condition which generally results from the repetitive use of the forearm muscles.  It has generally been treated with rest, ice, bracing and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications.

(1) A study on the treatment of tennis elbow using only Yanglingquan GB-34 on the affected side reports that most patients obtained pain relief of 70% (mean pain relief 55%). The results were significantly higher than in a placebo group treated by light pressure at Feishu BL-13. The results were assessed blindly immediately after treatment. (Molsberger A, Hill E, British Journal of Rheumatology, 33: 1162-5).

(2) Of 55 patients with chronic lateral epicondylitis (Tennis elbow), 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 these differences were significantly greater in the real acupuncture group, and at 2 months the arm function was still better in this group. (Rheumatology (Oxford) 2002 Feb;41(2):205-9).