Acupuncture for Radiation-induced Xerostomia

Acupuncture for Radiation-induced Xerostomia

This study is to assess the relative standardization of acupuncture protocols for radiation-induced xerostomia. A literature search was carried out up to November 10, 2012 in the databases PubMed/ MEDLINE, EMBASE and China National Knowledge Infrastruction with the terms: radiation-induced xerostomia, acupuncture, acupuncture treatment, and acupuncture therapy. Five ancient Chinese classic acupuncture works were also reviewed with the keywords "dry mouth, thirst, dry tongue, dry eyes and dry lips" to search the effective acupuncture points for dry mouth-associated symptoms in ancient China. Twenty-two full-text articles relevant to acupuncture treatment for radiation-induced xerostomia were included and a total of 48 acupuncture points were searched in the 5 ancient Chinese classic acupuncture works, in which the most commonly used points were Chengjiang (CV24), Shuigou (GV 26), Duiduan (GV 27), Jinjin (EX-HN 12), and Yuye (EX-HN 13) on head and neck, Sanjian (LI 3), Shangyang (LI 1), Shaoshang (LU 11), Shaoze (SI 1), Xialian (LI 8) on hand, Fuliu (KI 7), Dazhong (KI 4), Zuqiaoyin (GB 44), Taichong (LR 3), Zhaohai (KI 6) on foot, Burong (ST 19), Zhangmen (LR 13), Tiantu (CV 22), Qimen (LR 14) on abdomen, Feishu (BL 13), Danshu (BL 19), Xiaochaogshu (BL 27), Ganshu (BL 18) on back, Shenmen (TF 4), Shen (CO₁₀, Kidney), Yidan (CO₁₁, Pancreas) and Pi (CO₁₃, Spleen) on ear. There were considerable heterogeneities in the current acupuncture treatment protocols for radiation-induced xerostomia. Based on the results of the review and the personal perspectives, the authors provide a recommendation for manual acupuncture protocols in treating radiation-induced xerostomia patients with head and neck cancer.

Source: Li LX, Tian G, He J. The standardization of acupuncture treatment for radiation-induced xerostomia: A literature review. Chin J Integr Med. 2015 Aug 26.

Acupuncture for Eye Problems

Abdominal Acupuncture for Eye Healing: The Sacred Turtle and Ba Gua Map

By Shengyan (Grace) Tan

Our ideas about western medicine have shifted in recent decades, while the public is asking more from health care providers. The old method of referring each symptom to a particular specialist isolated from the whole person has been replaced slowly with alternative forms of health care like acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.

In the perspective of TCM, we are looking at the whole person, his or her dietary preferences, life style, exercise, and connections to different types of relationships, as well as particular symptoms and signs which brought them in for treatment in the first place.

We believe our vision does not happen in a vacuum. Rather it has its roots in our total being. The body does not work as a series of parts in isolation, but as a whole, dynamically integrated with our whole system. Every cell is a nerve cell. This biological awareness of every cell is really the foundation of vision. Each of us is unique and literally takes in the world primarily through our vision; moreover, the way we take in the world is, to some degree, a reflection of who we are and which symptoms we might manifest.

Most eye problems respond to acupuncture. In some cases this may come as a surprise. Acupuncture can be effective in treating a wide range of conditions of eye disorders. For some conditions, such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt's disease and other degenerative disease, which have no treatment in western medicine and acupuncture is the treatment of choice. For other diseases, such as conjunctivitis, corneal ulcer, keratitis, retinal vein or artery obstruction, optic neuritis, optic atrophy, cataract (in the early stage) and chronic (open-angle) glaucoma, acupuncture can be beneficial as a supplementary therapy. Acupuncture will change the patient's overall condition so that both the symptoms and the underlying disharmony disappear. The body may be supported sufficiently to remove all unpleasant symptoms.

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Acupuncture is Better than Pills for Breast Cancer Patients

In Breast Cancer Survivors, Acupuncture Better Than Pills for Hot Flashes

Acupuncture appears to be more efficacious than oral medication for treating hot flashes in breast cancer survivors.

Acupuncture appears to be more efficacious than oral medication for treating hot flashes in breast cancer survivors, according to a new trial that compared acupuncture, sham acupuncture, gabapentin, and a placebo pill. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Jun James Mao, M.D., an associate professor of family medicine and community health at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues tested the treatments in 120 women who were breast cancer survivors.

The women were experiencing hot flashes at least twice a day. Thirty women each received either real electroacupuncture or an inactive placebo pill, 32 women got sham acupuncture, and 28 women received gabapentin.

Acupuncture had the greatest effect on overall hot flash scores at eight weeks, when all interventions ended, followed by sham acupuncture and then gabapentin.

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Five Clinical Trials on Acupuncture

Five Clinical Trials on Acupuncture

Elsewhere in this issue you will find no fewer than five randomized controlled trials of acupuncture and related techniques, ranging in size from a small comparative effectiveness study of manual acupuncture versus clonazepam for burning mouth syndrome by Jurisic Kvesic et al. (n=42) to a large multi-centre trial of “heat-sensitive” moxibustion for knee osteoarthritis by Chen et al. (n=432). In addition, Tzeng et al. and McKeon et al. report on their pilot studies of electroacupuncture for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and post-operative pain, respectively, and Liu et al. evaluate perioperative transcutaneous electrical acupuncture point stimulation in patients undergoing brain surgery. This diverse assortment of trials is followed by an appraisal by Kim et al. of a new sham press needle, which their volunteers were unable to reliably distinguish from a penetrating press needle. This is encouraging, however it remains unknown whether this sham needle is truly inert and/or whether it will achieve successful blinding of patients in randomized controlled trials.

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Three Basic Science Studies on Acupuncture

Three Basic Science Studies on Acupuncture

Next come three basic science studies which add to the mushrooming literature on the anti-inflamma-tory and immunomodulatory effects of acupuncture, as recently brought to the fore by the ground-breaking work of Torres-Rosaset al. Here, Zhu et al. and Xue et al. demonstrate anti-inflammatory effects of electroacupuncture in rats with rheumatoid arthritis and severe acute pancreatitis, respectively, while Watanabe et al. reveal stimulation of the innate immune system following manual acupuncture in stressed mice. These papers are followed by the novel work of Huang et al. characterizing electrical activity at myo-fascial trigger points, treatment of which is central to the practice of Western medical acupuncture.

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