Recent Research

Prostate Cancer Side Effects

April 2011

Acupuncture can reduce side effects in men being treated for prostate cancer Most men who receive positive PSA test results opt for hormone therapy to reduce their tumor. However, this treatment approach can bring with it severe side effects that include hot flashes, heart palpitations and anxiety. Yet a new study has shown that acupuncture treatment may be able to reduce these side effects. For the study, researchers from Cornell University evaluated 14 men who were experiencing side effects from hormone therapy both before and after providing them with a four-week acupuncture treatment program. The results showed that participants’ rating of their symptoms declined by 28 percent following treatment. The researchers said that the therapy could offer a natural option for dealing with treatment side effects.

Polycystic Ovaries and Acupuncture

Feb 2010

A new study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has shown that acupuncture is very effective in treating Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Women with PCOS were given acupuncture where the needles were stimulated both manually and with a mild electric current. "The study shows that both acupuncture and exercise reduce high levels of testosterone and lead to more regular menstruation," says researcher Elisabet Stener-Victorin, who headed the study."Of the two treatments, the acupuncture proved more effective."

Acupuncture and depression in pregnancy

March 2010

A new Stanford University study suggested that acupuncture may grant some relief during pregnancy. The study included 150 women who were 12 to 30 weeks pregnant with major depression. After eight weeks of acupuncture, nearly 66% of the women who faced depression-specific acupuncture revealed a reduction in at least 50 percent of their symptoms, contrasted with just under half of the women treated with either massage or regular acupuncture.

Acupuncture and Incontinence

January 2010

Researchers in America have carried out a pilot study to identify if acupuncture is effective in reducing urinary incontinence and to test research methods for investigating this treatment. The pilot study showed a 63.30% reduction in daytime accidents/day one week after treatment and 67.47% reduction at 4 weeks. More research is required.

Qigong eases pain conditions

Journal of Pain 2007 November

A literature review done by the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth which looked at 141 studies on Qigong and pain have shown that this energy-healing system significantly reduced pain. This is encouraging especially for individuals who wish to heal pain naturally and without medication.

Acupuncture and Pain

THURSDAY, Aug. 27 –NeuroImage Journal

A new study from the University of Michigan shows that traditional Chinese acupuncture eases pain by regulating key receptors in the brain. The study showed that acupuncture increases the binding availability of mu-opioid receptors in regions of the brain that process and weaken pain signals. By directly stimulating these chemicals, acupuncture can affect the brain's long-term ability to regulate pain, the study found. Using positron emission tomography scans of the brain, the researchers examined 20 women with the pain condition, fibromyalgia. "The increased binding availability of these receptors was associated with reductions in pain," said Richard Harris, a researcher at the University of Michigan's Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center. It is also thought that the data could prompt doctors to use morphine and other opioid drugs with greater pain-killing effectiveness after treatment with acupuncture because those drugs bind to the same receptors.

Acupuncture reduces Eczema Itch

According to a new study, acupuncture may help relieve the itch associated with the allergic skin condition known as atopic eczema. Eczema is a persistent condition that is associated with skin inflammation and dry rashes. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich found that acupuncture therapy, when done within minutes of the initial exposure to an allergen, appeared to soothe subjective feelings of itchiness, according to the news source. Additionally, scientists found that when patients were exposed to an allergen directly after a session of acupuncture, they tended to have a less severe skin reaction.

Acupuncture for Back Pain

August 19, 2009 -University of Ulster

A pilot study suggests that the treatment, when combined with exercise, is good for pain in the lower back. Auricular acupuncture also appears to have a wider good-health impact on patients. They said small acupuncture needles in the ear are potentially a very cost effective and innovative approach that could be easily combined with other treatments such as exercise. “NICE is recommending a course of acupuncture or supervised exercise classes (as tested in the Ulster trial) for people with low back pain. However, more work needs to be done on how these treatments might be combined in large scale studies in an NHS setting.” Dr McCann said the results produced evidence of well-being effects generally. “The participants reported that the programme had a range of psychological as well as physical benefits and the treatment had, for many, a huge impact on their quality of life.” The preliminary research study, which is part of an ongoing research programme at Ulster, was funded by the Public Health Agency for Northern Ireland through its Research and Development Office.

Pelvic Pain and Acupuncture

August 12, 2009 - One in three pregnant women will suffer potentially severe and disabling pelvic girdle pain. A recent 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 exercises designed to improve mobility and strength. Pain levels were assessed morning and evening. The women receiving the acupuncture showed the greatest relief in pain, which, achieved without the use of medication, is of particular benefit to pregnant women. Acupuncture was superior to stabilising exercises in this study. (BMJ 2005;330:761 (2 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.38397.507014.E0).

Acupuncture in Pregnancy

A new study shows that acupuncture relieves indigestion and heartburn in pregnant women. According to HealthDay News, heartburn was reduced by half in 75% of women who were treated with acupuncture. And the women who received the treatments also reported eating and sleeping better. 15 of the women in the acupuncture group said their eating habits improved by 50%, compared with fewer than 1 in 3 in the group who were treated with conventional methods. 14 women who received acupuncture said their sleep improved by 50%, compared with just 1 in 4 in the other group. The full report is published in the June issue of Acupuncture in Medicine.

PCOS and Acupuncture

ScienceDaily (June 29, 2009) — Exercise and electro-acupuncture treatments can reduce sympathetic nerve activity in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), according to a new study. The finding is important because women with PCOS often have elevated sympathetic nerve activity, which plays a role in hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, obesity and cardiovascular disease.

Acupuncture outperforms Effexor in cancer treatment

NaturalNews: Feb 2009: Acupuncture outperformed one of the most common non-hormonal drugs prescribed for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, in a study conducted by researchers from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and presented at a meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. "It's been tested directly against a drug that we use regularly. And it's more effective," said lead researcher Eleanor Walker. "It has benefits, as opposed to any side-effects." Menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes are common side effects of breast cancer treatment. Such symptoms are often treated with antidepressants, since hormone replacement therapy may increase the risk of cancer recurrence. Concern over side effects, however, keeps many women from taking these drugs. In the current study, Effexor patients reported side effects including anxiety, dizziness, fatigue, headache, elevated blood pressure, nausea and sleeping trouble. No negative side effects were reported from acupuncture, however, even though the Chinese medicine was just as effective as the antidepressant at reducing the number and severity of hot flashes. Furthermore, while the effects of Effexor only lasted for two weeks after treatment had ended, symptoms remained reduced for 15 weeks after the end of acupuncture treatment. "It was a more durable effect," Walker said. "If you only have to give women treatment three to four times a year as opposed to having to take a pill every day, that's going to be more cost-effective."

International Journal of Obesity, January 2009; Acupuncture for obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Acupuncture is an effective weight loss tool, according to a recent study. With more and more people adding acupuncture to their weight loss came the need for a critical assessment of the studies that have been performed. The results of this review showed that compared to control of lifestyle, acupuncture was associated with a significant reduction of average body weight and was associated with an improvement in obesity. Acupuncture also showed more improved outcomes for body weight as well as for obesity, than conventional medication.

From a Western perspective, acupuncture and TCM have been shown to have an effect on the function of the nervous system, endocrine system, digestive system, food cravings, and metabolism. All of which can help to energize the body, maximize the absorption of nutrients, regulate elimination, control overeating, suppress the appetite, and reduce anxiety. Acupuncture Points for Weight Loss Generally treatments are scheduled once or twice a week for 8 to 12 weeks or until the goal weight has been reached. The treatments include a combination of auricular ( ear ) and body acupuncture, ear tacks or pellets to leave on in-between treatments, herbs and supplements, and food and lifestyle recommendations.

Acupuncture helps in Cancer Treatment

August 2008

With its debut at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting earlier this year in Chicago, a new study was released specific to acupuncture's help in the cancer fight. The research was limited to head and neck cancer patients. Most head and neck cancers are usually treated with a neck dissection—a surgical procedure to remove lymph nodes in the neck that may be cancerous—some of these can involve removing all the lymph nodes as well as muscles in the neck that could be harmed by tumors and then most patients follow up surgery with radiation to shrink the tumors. Patients often complain of severe cases of dry mouth, nausea, chronic pain (especially if their muscles and nerves were removed), and vomiting due to the radiation therapy. The study Acupuncture Reduces Pain and Dysfunction in Head and Neck Cancer Patients after Neck Dissection done by Dr. David Pfister of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center picked 70 random patients to research over a period of four weeks. All the patients had been recovered from radiation and surgery for three months prior to the study. They were put into two groups: acupuncture and usual care (physical therapy and/or anti-inflammatory drugs). The acupuncture group had a 39 percent improvement in dry mouth, pain and movement dysfunction over the usual care group which had only a 7 percent improvement.

Acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee

September 2008

A very large study enrolled 570 participants to see if acupuncture provided pain relief and improved function for people with osteoarthritis of the knee. The study reported positive results. Dr. Brian M. Berman, the study’s director and a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland, said the inquiry “establishes that acupuncture is an effective complement to conventional arthritis treatment.”

Acupuncture relieves chronic headaches

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - August 2008

Acupuncture may bring some added pain relief to people with chronic headaches, a new study suggests. German researchers followed more than 15,000 adults with chronic headaches; all had been suffering from either migraine or tension-type headaches at least twice a month for 1 year or more. Of these patients, nearly 3,200 agreed to be randomly assigned to either have acupuncture added to their regular therapy or to stay with their usual care alone. The rest of the patients began on acupuncture treatment. All of the acupuncture patients received up to 15 sessions over 3 months, and all study patients were reassessed after 6 months. In the end, the study found, acupuncture patients reported greater pain improvements than those who stayed with their usual care only. At the outset, they reported an average of 8.4 headache days over 3 months; that dropped to 4.7 by the study's end. In the usual care only group, the average number of headache days remained virtually the same: 8.1 days initially, and 7.5 days at the end of the study.

Acupuncture for Relief from Hot Flushes

April 23 2008 - Norway (United Press International)

Acupuncture gives effective relief from hot flushes in women treated with the drug tamoxifen after breast cancer surgery, a Norwegian study found. Jill Hervik, a physiotherapist and acupuncturist at the Vestfold Central Hospital in Tonsberg, Norway, said breast cancer patients who received traditional Chinese acupuncture had a 50 percent reduction in hot flushes, both during the day and the night, and that this effect continued after the acupuncture ceased.

Acupuncture for Migraine

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Acupuncture, as practiced in traditional Chinese medicine, may offer some relief from migraine pain, a new study suggests. Italian researchers found that regular treatments with "true" acupuncture helped improve symptoms in 32 patients whose migraines had been resistant to standard preventive medication. Moreover, the therapy worked better than two forms of "sham" acupuncture used for comparison, the researchers report in the medical journal Headache.

Jump Starting Weight Loss With Needles

Thursday, Apr 10, 2008-Channel 6 News A UK pilot study is testing the effectiveness of acupuncture to jump start weight loss. Dr. Tarvez Tucker, a UK Neurologist, is leading a pilot study testing the effectiveness of acupuncture as a "jump start" to weight loss and an improvement in an overweight person's quality of life. The 17 people in the study have acupuncture needles placed in their ears for six weeks, with the needles changed twice a week. "You feel different, you don't want to eat as much," program participant Helen Spradlin said. Spradlin lost 14 pounds in a month. "I'm not craving chocolate any more and that's a blessing."

Acupuncture reduces cancer pain

A study conducted by the University of California, San Francisco, found massage and acupuncture to be effective in decreasing pain and depression following surgery in cancer patients. The findings of the randomized controlled clinical trial are reported in the March 2007 issue of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

Acupuncture reduces post-surgery pain

Wednesday 26 March 2008 (NaturalNews) Acupuncture may reduce the pain experienced by patients after surgery, and decrease their need for pain-killing drugs, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina and presented at an American Society for Anesthesiology conference in San Francisco.

Acupuncture may be effective for menstrual pain

February 26 2008 Acupuncture can help relieve menstrual pain and improve the quality of life for some women, a new study from Germany shows.The study showed that acupuncture was beneficial for women if offered as part of the health insurance system," the researchers write in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Among women given acupuncture, 63.4 percent reported at least a 33 percent improvement in their symptoms, while 24 percent of women in the control group did.Based on these findings, the researchers conclude that "acupuncture should be considered as a viable option in the management of these patients."

Acupuncture for Insomnia

Monday, February 25, 2008 (NaturalNews) Auricular acupuncture, or ear acupuncture, may be effective for treating insomnia, according to a study published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. According to the study, those who received auricular acupuncture recorded better improvement than those in the control groups. Additionally, auricular acupuncture produced better recovery from insomnia than diazepam. Auricular acupuncture was preferred over the control interventions for increasing duration of sleep up to six hours per night, for remaining asleep during the night, and for feeling refreshed upon waking.

Acupuncture and IVF

ScienceDaily (Feb. 11, 2008) - A review of seven clinical trials of acupuncture given with embryo transfer in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) suggests that acupuncture may improve rates of pregnancy by more than 65% than if the woman was not undergoing acupuncture.

Back Pain

German researchers at the University of Regensburg have found that acupuncture is better at healing back pain than drugs or exercise. In a study comprising 1162 adults with chronic lower back pain, acupuncture stood out as 48% of those in the treatment group reported a drastic lowering of pain levels.

Fibromyalgia

ScienceDaily (Jun. 13, 2006) — Evidence suggests acupuncture reduces the symptoms of fibromyalgia, according to a Mayo Clinic study. Fibromyalgia is a disorder considered disabling by many, and is characterized by chronic, widespread musculoskeletal pain and symptoms such as fatigue, joint stiffness and sleep disturbance. No cure is known and available treatments are only partially effective. Mayo's study involved 50 fibromyalgia patients enrolled in a randomized, controlled trial to determine if acupuncture improved their symptoms. Symptoms of patients who received acupuncture significantly improved compared with the control group, according to the study published in the June issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.