Acupuncture Improves Optic Neuropathy Patient Vision

Acupuncture Improves Optic Neuropathy Patient Vision

Acupuncture benefits vision for patients with ischemic optic neuropathy. In a recent investigation, acupuncture improved visual acuity and light sensitivity while reducing defects of the visual field for patients with nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). The researchers note the improvements suggest “that regular and continuous acupuncture treatment contributed to the recovery of the visual function of these patients. This may be because acupuncture promoted the blood circulation of artery in the brain and eyes and around the optic disc.” They add, “acupuncture repaired and reconstructed the visual pathways.”

Nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy is a common optic neuropathy for patients over the age of 50. Risk factors include diabetes and hypertension. Signs and symptoms include unilateral loss of eyesight, visual defects and optic disc swelling or paleness. Researchers from the Department of Ophthalmology at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital and from the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine conducted the study. The researchers note “this is the first report about acupuncture treatment for degenerative damage of the optic nerve caused by NAION.”

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Acupuncture for Perimenopause Relief

Acupuncture Perimenopause Relief 

Acupuncture is safe and effective for the treatment of perimenopause. Researchers from Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine and Henan University of Chinese Medicine investigated the effects of acupuncture on perimenopausal syndrome as it relates to metabolism, reproductive endocrinology, and the immune system.

Clinical and laboratory findings reveal important biochemical benefits induced by acupuncture and electroacupuncture.

Onset of perimenopause may occur years prior to menopause. It may occur in the 40s, 30s, or earlier and is related to a decrease in estrogen production by the ovaries. Perimenopause typically lasts approximately four years. Indications of perimenopause include hot flashes, fatigue, increased premenstrual syndrome (PMS), irregular menstrual cycles, insomnia, vaginal dryness, decreased libido, mood swings, anxiety, and breast tenderness. Conventional treatments include hormone replacement therapy, antidepressants, and vaginal lubricants.

The researchers note that a reduction of serum estradiol in perimenopausal women leads to changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPOA) axis thereby causing pathologies. Citing several investigations in their meta-analysis, the researchers note that acupuncture regulates the HPOA and levels of serum estradiol, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH). Additionally, they document the clinical success of acupuncture for the treatment of hot flashes.

The meta-analysis covered a large body of research. Jin et al. compared acupuncture with Premarin oral intake. Premarin is a brand name for conjugated estrogens. The acupuncture group received the administration of Back-Shu acupoints. The acupuncture group demonstrated superior patient outcomes over the group taking oral conjugated estrogens.

Shang et al. document that Yuan-Primary and Back-Shu acupoints are effective for the regulation of estradiol, FSH and LH in perimenopausal women. Qin et al. conclude that electroacupuncture applied to acupoint SP6 (Sanyinjiao) effectively modulates reproductive endocrine system functions in perimenopausal women. Li et al. measured significant beneficial increases of estradiol levels in perimenopausal women after the application of either of two acupuncture point prescriptions.

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Acupuncture for Radiation-Induced Dry Mouth

Acupuncture for Radiation-Induced Dry Mouth

Phase III results of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0537 indicate that acupuncture-like, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (ALTENS) may be equally effective as pilocarpine, the current prescription medication in a pill, to treat radiation-induced xerostomia (dry mouth), according to a study published in the June 1, 2015 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics (Red Journal), the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). RTOG 0537 is a phase II/III, multi-center, randomized trial comparing ALTENS with pilocarpine, which is the current standard of treatment for radiation-induced xerostomia.

A Poem at the Community Acupuncture Clinic

The Saturday poem: At the community acupuncture clinic

by Matthew Siegel

the forms are long ropes for climbing
into the heaven of good health.

They are held together with a clip,
a little mouth clamped down.

There is no space to write how the cold hands
of each doctor felt against my belly.

A volunteer takes me by the wrist
to meet the acupuncturist.

She flips through the pages of my blue scribbles
as I describe my complicated dream.

She wipes my forehead with an alcohol pad,
taps a needle into my third eye –

and I am almost silent now, just breathing,
as she hovers above each wrist and ankle,

a hummingbird pressing its thin beak
into flowers. My eyelids flutter each time

she taps a needle into me and when she’s done,
spreads a blanket across my body.

• From Matthew Siegel’s Blood Work (CB Editions £8.99). To order a copy for £7.19 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call Guardian book service on 0330 333 6846.

MRI Discovery of Acupuncture Managing Pain

Acupuncture Causes Brain Changes in Patients With Hand Pain

PALM SPRINGS, California — Acupuncture appears to thicken the cortex of patients with idiopathic hand pain while alleviating their pain, a new study suggests.

The finding provides new evidence for a condition resembling carpal tunnel syndrome but with a different cause, said first author, Norman Kettner, DC, chair of radiology at Logan University in Chesterfield, Missouri.

"This needs further investigation," he told Medscape Medical News.

Dr Kettner presented the finding here at the American Pain Society (APS) 54th Annual Scientific Meeting.

Typical symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include pain and paresthesia over median-nerve innervated regions of the hand. But while conduction is decreased in the median nerves of some of these patients, it is normal in others.

To understand the differences in these two groups, Dr Kettner and his colleagues assigned 15 patients with idiopathic hand pain and 21 patients with carpal tunnel syndrome to 16 acupuncture treatments over the course of 8 weeks.

The carpal tunnel syndrome group averaged 49.2 years of age, while the idiopathic hand pain group averaged 38.5 years of age.

Acupuncture consisted of electrical stimulation at 2 Hz in points PC7 and TW5, with manual acupuncture at three additional points among HT3, PC3, SI4, LI5, LI10, and LU5 chosen by practitioners on the basis of their diagnoses.

The researchers measured the patients' nerve latency and velocity using electrophysiologic testing. They used MRI to measure cortical thickness.

At baseline, median nerve conduction latency was significantly higher for the carpal tunnel group, and median nerve conduction velocity was significantly lower than in the idiopathic pain group and a control group of 13 healthy people.

Differences in ulnar nerve conduction latency and velocity did not significantly differ among the groups.

Also at baseline, average cortical thickness in the bilateral insula was greater in the idiopathic hand pain group than in the carpal tunnel group.

The nerve conduction measurements did not change significantly after acupuncture treatment.

On the other hand, cortical thickness increased in the left S1, right posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus, and bilateral insula after acupuncture in the idiopathic hand treatment group but not in the carpal tunnel group.

Meanwhile, scores on the Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTSQ) improved for both the idiopathic hand pain and the carpal tunnel syndrome groups. The improvements were statistically significant at the conclusion of the acupuncture treatment and 3 months later (P < .05).

While the idiopathic pain group improved more on the BCTSQ than the carpal tunnel group, this difference was not statistically significant.

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Acupuncture for Veterans's Stress on CBS

Yoga, acupuncture helps ease veterans' stress

Meditation, breathing and Eastern medicine -- all these tools are now used by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The goal is to heal PTSD and the invisible wounds of war. Chip Reid reports on veterans who hope more of their fellow warriors will take a seat and join the zen. 

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