Medline Abstracts

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Borup L, Wurlitzer W, Hedegaard M, Kesmodel US, Hvidman L.

Acupuncture as pain relief during delivery: a randomized controlled

trial. Birth. 2009 Mar;36(1):5-12. Department of Obstetrics and

Gynecology, Aarhus University Hospital, Skejby, Brendstrupgaardsvej,

8200 Aarhus N, Denmark. BACKGROUND: Many women need some kind of

analgesic treatment to relieve pain during childbirth. The objective

of our study was to compare the effect of acupuncture with

transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) and traditional

analgesics for pain relief and relaxation during delivery with

respect to pain intensity, birth experience, and obstetric outcome.

METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 607 healthy

women in labor at term who received acupuncture, TENS, or traditional

analgesics. Primary outcomes were the need for pharmacological and

invasive methods, level of pain assessed by a visual analogue scale,

birth experience and satisfaction with delivery, and pain relief

evaluated at 2 months postpartum. Secondary obstetric outcomes were

duration of labor, use of oxytocin, mode of delivery, postpartum

hemorrhage, Apgar score, and umbilical cord pH value. Analysis

complied with the intention-to-treat principle. RESULTS: Use of

pharmacological and invasive methods was significantly lower in the

acupuncture group (acupuncture vs traditional, p < 0.001; acupuncture

vs TENS, p = 0.031). Pain scores were comparable. Acupuncture did not

influence the duration of labor or the use of oxytocin. Mean Apgar

score at 5 minutes and umbilical cord pH value were significantly

higher among infants in the acupuncture group compared with infants

in the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture reduced the need for

pharmacological and invasive methods during delivery. Acupuncture is

a good supplement to existing pain relief methods. Publication Types:

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't PMID: 19278378 [PubMed - in process]

El-Toukhy T, Khalaf Y. The impact of acupuncture on assisted

reproductive technology outcome. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Mar

5. [Epub ahead of print] Reproductive Medicine Unit, Guys and St.

Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. PURPOSE OF REVIEW:

To evaluate the impact of acupuncture on the outcome of in-vitro

fertilization treatment using data from published randomized studies.

The main outcome measure of interest is the clinical pregnancy rate.

RECENT FINDINGS: Fourteen relevant trials including 2870 women were

examined. Significant clinical and statistical heterogeneity were

encountered among the studies. Five trials (n = 877) evaluated in-

vitro fertilization outcome when acupuncture was performed around the

time of oocyte retrieval and found no difference in the clinical

pregnancy rate between the two groups [relative risk (RR) = 1.06, 95%

confidence interval (CI) 0.82-1.37, P = 0.65]. Likewise, nine trials

(n = 1993) reported in-vitro fertilization outcome when acupuncture

was performed around the time of embryo transfer and showed no

significant difference in the clinical pregnancy rate (RR = 1.16, 95%

CI 0.92-1.48, P = 0.22). SUMMARY: Currently available literature does

not provide sufficient evidence that adjuvant acupuncture, whether

performed at the time of oocyte retrieval or embryo transfer,

improves in-vitro fertilization outcome. On the basis of this

evidence, acupuncture should not be recommended during in-vitro

fertilization to increase its success rate. PMID: 19276803 [PubMed -

as supplied by publisher]

 

Zhou J, Qu F, Burrows E, Yu Y, Nan R. Acupuncture can improve

absorption of baicalin from extracts of Scutellaria baicalensis

Georgi in rats. Phytother Res. 2009 Mar 9. [Epub ahead of print] Sino-

Britain Joint Laboratory, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences,

Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China. The aim of

this research was to explore whether acupuncture could improve the

absorption of baicalin from extracts of Scutellaria baicalensis

Georgi in normal rats. Twenty male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were

divided randomly into two groups. Group A was treated with a

combination of oral administration of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi

extracts and acupuncture. Group B was treated only with oral

administration of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi extracts, in the

same dosage as Group A. After treatment, the plasma concentration of

baicalin was detected and pharmacokinetic analysis was conducted

using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results

showed that the plasma concentration of baicalin in Group A was

significantly higher than in Group B, and that acupuncture at the

acupoints Jizhong (Du6), Dazhui (Du14) and Zhongwan (Ren12) made the

plasma concentration-time course of baicalin produce a bimodal

phenomenon, increased the area under the curve (AUC) and slowed the

elimination of baicalin, thus significantly improving the absorption

of baicalin from extracts of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi in rats.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID: 19274704 [PubMed -

as supplied by publisher]

 

Nourshahi M, Ahmadizad S, Nikbakht H, Heidarnia MA, Ernst E. The

effects of triple therapy (acupuncture, diet and exercise) on body

weight: a randomized, clinical trial. Int J Obes (Lond). 2009 Mar 10.

[Epub ahead of print] 1Department of Sport Physiology, Shahid

Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. Objectives:The purpose of this

study was to compare the effects of diet and exercise vs acupuncture,

diet and exercise on the body weight and related parameters of adult

women.Methods:Twenty-seven obese women with a body fat percentage of

more than 30% were randomized into three groups. The first

experimental group had diet and exercise, whereas the second

experimental group had diet, exercise and acupuncture. The control

group received no intervention at all. The study period lasted for 8

weeks. Body weight, skin fold thickness, body mass index and fat mass

were measured before and after 8 weeks.Results:Body mass index and

fat mass, decreased significantly (P<0.05) in both experimental

groups when compared with the control group. However, there was no

significant difference between the two experimental groups. Changes

in lean body mass after 8 weeks were not significantly different from

those in the control group.Conclusion:It is concluded that

acupuncture combined with diet and exercise does not generate larger

reductions in body weight, fat mass or body mass index than diet and

exercise alone.International Journal of Obesity advance online

publication, 10 March 2009; doi:10.1038/ijo.2009.41. PMID: 19274056

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

 

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