Medline Acupuncture Abstracts

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Lu W, Hu D, Dean-Clower E, Doherty-Gilman A, Legedza AT, Lee H,

Matulonis U, Rosenthal DS. Acupuncture for chemotherapy-induced

leukopenia: exploratory meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Soc

Integr Oncol. 2007 Winter;5(1):1-10. Leonard P. Zakim Center for

Integrative Therapies, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115,

USA. weidong_lu Chemotherapy-induced leukopenia and

neutropenia are common side effects during cancer treatment. Acupuncture

has been reported as an adjunct therapy for this complication. The current

study reviewed published randomized controlled trials of acupuncture's

effect and explored the acupuncture parameters used in these trials. We

searched biomedical databases in English and Chinese from 1979 to 2004.

The study populations were cancer patients who were undergoing or had

just completed chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy, randomized to either

acupuncture therapy or usual care. The methodologic quality of trials was

assessed. From 33 reviewed articles, 682 patients from 11 eligible trials

were included in analyses. All trials were published in non-PubMed journals

from China. The methodologic quality of these trials was considerably poor.

The median sample size of each comparison group was 45, and the median

trial duration was 21 days. The frequency of acupuncture treatment was

once a day, with a median of 16 sessions in each trial. In the seven trials in

which white blood cell (WBC) counts were available, acupuncture use was

associated with an increase in leukocytes in patients during chemotherapy

or chemoradiotherapy, with a weighted mean difference of 1,221 WBC/muL

on average (95% confidence interval 636-1,807; p < .0001). Acupuncture for

chemotherapy-induced leukopenia is an intriguing clinical question.

However, the inferior quality and publication bias present in these studies

may lead to a false-positive estimation. Meta-analysis based on these

published trials should be treated in an exploratory nature only. PMID:

17309808 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

Wu HM, Tang JL, Lin XP, Lau J, Leung PC, Woo J, Li YP. Acupuncture for

stroke rehabilitation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Jul

19;3:CD004131. West China Hospital, Si Chuan University, Department of

Geriatrics, Chengdu, Si Chuan, China 610041. drwhm

BACKGROUND: Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Western

society; in China it is the second most common cause of death in cities and

the third in rural areas. It is also a main cause of adult disability and

dependency. Acupuncture for stroke has been used in China for hundreds of

years and is increasingly practiced in some Western countries.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for patients

with stroke in the subacute or chronic stage. SEARCH STRATEGY: We

searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (November 2005), the

Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field Trials Register (November 2005),

the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library

Issue 3, 2005), MEDLINE (1966 to November 2005), EMBASE (1980 to

November 2005), CINAHL (1982 to November 2005), AMED (1985 to

November 2005), the Chinese Stroke Trials Register (November 2005), the

Chinese Acupuncture Trials Register (November 2005), the Chinese

Biological Medicine Database (1977 to November 2005), the National

Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Register (November

2005), and the National Institute of Health Clinical Trials Database

(November 2005). We handsearched four Chinese journals and checked

reference lists of all papers identified for further trials. SELECTION

CRITERIA: Truly randomised unconfounded clinical trials among patients

with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, in the subacute or chronic stage, which

compared acupuncture involving needling with either placebo acupuncture,

sham acupuncture or no acupuncture. DATA COLLECTION AND

ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently selected trials for inclusion,

assessed quality, extracted and cross-checked the data. MAIN RESULTS:

Five trials (368 patients) met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality

was considered inadequate in all trials. Although the overall estimate from

four trials suggested the odds of improvement in global neurological deficit

was higher in the acupuncture group compared with the control group (odds

ratio (OR) 6.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.89 to 22.76), this estimate

may not be reliable since there was substantial heterogeneity (I(2 )= 68%).

One trial showed no significant improvement of motor function between the

real acupuncture group and the sham acupuncture group (OR 9.00, 95% CI

0.40 to 203.30), but the confidence interval was wide and included clinically

significant effects in both directions. No data on death, dependency,

institutional care, change of neurological deficit score, quality of life or

adverse events were available. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Currently there

is no clear evidence on the effects of acupuncture on subacute or chronic

stroke. Large, methodologically-sound trials are required. PMID: 16856031

[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

Moffet HH. How might acupuncture work? A systematic review of

physiologic rationales from clinical trials. BMC Complement Altern Med.

2006 Jul 7;6:25. Kaiser Permanente--Division of Research, Oakland, CA,

USA. Howard.H.Moffet BACKGROUND: Scientific interest in

acupuncture has led numerous investigators to conduct clinical trials to test

the efficacy of acupuncture for various conditions, but the mechanisms

underlying acupuncture are poorly understood. METHODS: The author

conducted a PubMed search to obtain a fair sample of acupuncture clinical

trials published in English in 2005. Each article was reviewed for a

physiologic rationale, as well as study objectives and outcomes,

experimental and control interventions, country of origin, funding sources

and journal type. RESULTS: Seventy-nine acupuncture clinical trials were

identified. Twenty-six studies (33%) offered no physiologic rationale. Fifty-

three studies (67%) posited a physiologic basis for acupuncture: 33 (62% of

53) proposed neurochemical mechanisms, 2 (4%) segmental nervous

system effects, 6 (11%) autonomic nervous system regulation, 3 (6%) local

effects, 5 (9%) effects on brain function and 5 (9%) other effects. No

rationale was proposed for stroke; otherwise having a rationale was not

associated with objective, positive or negative findings, means of

intervention, country of origin, funding source or journal type. The dominant

explanation for how acupuncture might work involves neurochemical

responses and is not reported to be dependent on treatment objective,

specific points, means or method of stimulation. CONCLUSION: Many

acupuncture trials fail to offer a meaningful rationale, but proposing a

rationale can help investigators to develop and test a causal hypothesis,

choose an appropriate control and rule out placebo effects. Acupuncture

may stimulate self-regulatory processes independent of the treatment

objective, points, means or methods used; this would account for

acupuncture's reported benefits in so many disparate pathologic conditions.

PMID: 16824230 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

Jordan JB. Acupuncture treatment for opiate addiction: a systematic review.

J Subst Abuse Treat. 2006 Jun;30(4):309-14. Graduate School of

Counseling Psychology, University of Maryland University College, Okinawa,

Japan. jjordan A review of the efficacy of acupuncture as

treatment for opiate addiction, covering 33 years of reported literature in

western scientific journals, was systematically undertaken. Some abstracts

from Chinese language journals were also briefly reviewed. Supportive

evidence often came from non-controlled nonblinded methodologies. When

well-designed clinical trials (randomized, controlled, single-blind

methodologies) were used, there was no significant evidence for

acupuncture being a more effective treatment than controls. Some of the

current supportive evidence for efficacy came from Chinese journals that

have not been translated into English yet. PMID: 16716845 [PubMed -

indexed for MEDLINE]

 

Carpenter JS, Neal JG. Other complementary and alternative medicine

modalities: acupuncture, magnets, reflexology, and homeopathy. Am J Med.

2005 Dec 19;118 Suppl 12B:109-17. School of Nursing, Indiana University,

Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA. carpentj We sought to

evaluate evidence for the benefits and risks of acupuncture, magnets,

reflexology, and homeopathy for menopause-related symptoms. Search

strategies included electronic searches of online databases (PubMed,

PsycINFO, Medline), direct searches of target journals, and citation-index

searches. A total of 12 intervention studies were identified for review.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments resulted in few

side effects. The design, study populations, and findings across acupuncture

studies varied. In uncontrolled studies, acupuncture improved subjective

measures of hot flash frequency and vasomotor, somatic, physical, and

psychological symptoms; however, improvements were not consistent.

Controlled studies of acupuncture yielded even less consistent findings.

Overall, controlled studies of acupuncture did not reliably improve hot

flashes, sleep disturbances, or mood when compared with nonspecific

acupuncture, estrogen therapy, or superficial needling. Homeopathy

significantly improved subjective measures of hot flash frequency and

severity, mood, fatigue, and anxiety in uncontrolled, open-label studies.

Controlled studies of magnets and reflexology failed to demonstrate any

increased benefit of treatment over placebo. There is a need for additional

investigations of acupuncture and homeopathy for the treatment of hot

flashes and other menopausal symptoms. However, existing evidence does

not indicate a beneficial effect of magnets or reflexology in the treatment of

hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. Understanding whether, for

whom, and how these interventions work is crucial to building the evidence

base needed to evaluate any potential for these CAM therapies in the

management of menopause-related symptoms. PMID: 16414335 [PubMed -

indexed for MEDLINE]

 

Hacker GW, Pawlak E, Pauser G, Tichy G, Jell H, Posch G, Kraibacher G,

Aigner A, Hutter J. Biomedical evidence of influence of geopathic zones on

the human body: scientifically traceable effects and ways of harmonization.

Forsch Komplementarmed Klass Naturheilkd. 2005 Dec;12(6):315-27. Epub

2005 Dec 22. Institute for Frontier Questions of Medicine and

Biotechnology, St. Johanns-Hospital, Salzburger Landeskliniken (SALK),

Salzburg, Austria. g.hacker BACKGROUND: Empiric knowledge of

the existence of geopathic zones ('water veins' etc) is probably as old as

humankind. It has often been tried to experimentally detect direct influences

on the body. However, so far, there have been no publications in accepted

biomedical journals. The target of this study was to verify influences of 2

different zones above ground on the human body and to test a device for

which pilot studies have indicated a potential harmonizing effect in this

context. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a randomized, non-clinical,

double-blinded trial design, 52 persons were tested with a gas discharge

visualization (GDV) system whilst staying on 2 zones with or without the

Geowave device (Geowave-Research, Salzburg, Austria). The 2 zones

investigated had been dowsed by experienced professional dowsers and

labeled with black dots in a non-persuasive manner, thereby blindly

representing areas of geopathy or more neutral zones. The main analytical

parameter was the GDV glow image area (area of glow). Complementary

calculated parameters were spatial fractality, corona projections and corona

diagrams. RESULTS: In the geopathic zone, the detected areas of glow

were statistically significantly smaller than in the more neutral zone. With the

Geowave blindly mounted in an adjacent room of the above story, a marked

increase of the glow image area was found in both zones. The corona

projections showed well-recognizable points of body energy deficits in the

geopathic zone, mostly associated with the lymphatic system, the

cardiovascular system and the pineal gland, which were -- to a distinctly

lesser degree -- also present in the more neutral zone. The device tested

yielded compensation or harmonization in both zones in most of the test

persons. CONCLUSION: The significant differences in the physical area of

glow parameter, which were also noticed for the complementary parameters

analyzed, lead to the conclusion that the 2 different zones within the same

room (geopathic vs. more neutral zone) exerted different influences on the

human body, which may have caused a geopathic stress phenomenon. As a

result, individually different retardation of the immune system and other

organs may occur. The device tested in both zones showed harmonizing

effects, which may help to compensate some influences of geopathy and

possibility also superimposed stressors derived from certain other sources,

such as technical electromagnetic fields. PMID: 16391480 [PubMed -

indexed for MEDLINE]

 

Wang XY. [Effect of acupuncture on bladder function in patients with

radical hysterectomy] [Article in Chinese] Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2007

Apr;32(2):132-5. Department of Acu-moxibustion, General Hospital of the

People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100853, China. wxy821

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture on the urodynamics of

bladder dysfunction in patients with radial hysterectomy. METHODS: A total

of 64 cases of bladder dysfunction patients with radial hysterectomy were

divided into urinary canal indwelling group (control group, 19 cases),

Sanyinjiao (SP06) group (23 cases) and Baliao (bilateral BL31, BL32, BL33

and BL34) group (22 cases). EA (4 Hz, 4-6 V) was applied to the

abovementioned acupoints for 30 min, once daily. Catheters were replaced

on the 7th day after surgical operation in all the patients and then removed

after 5 days' treatment. Postvoid residual urine volume (PVR), maximum

cystometric capacity (MCC), and average flow rate (Q(ave)) of urine were

detected after seven days' treatment. RESULTS: On the 7th day after

operation, no significant differences were found among 3 groups in PVR,

MCC and Q(ave). On the 12th day, PVR of 3 groups decreased significantly

(P < 0.05) and Q(ave) of SP06 and Baliao groups increased considerably (P

< 0.05). In comparison with control group, PVR of SP06 and Baliao groups

decreased considerably, while Q(ave) of the two acupuncture groups

increased significantly (P < 0.05), and the therapeutic effects of Baliao group

were obviously superior to those of SP06 group (P < 0.05). Of the 19, 23

and 22 patients with urinary canal indwelling in control, SP06 and Baliao

groups, 16 (84.21%), 18 (78.26%) and 7 (31.82%) had no marked

improvement in the bladder function on the 12th day after operation. On the

7th and 12th day after operation, the urinary tract infection was found in 1

and 10 cases in control group, 2 and 8 cases in SP06 group, and 2 and 6

cases in Baliao group respectively. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture has a good

therapeutic effect in improving the urodynamics of the bladder in radial

hysterectomy patients, and the action of Baliao (BL31-BL34) is best. PMID:

17650660 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

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