Research Abstracts for Acupuncture
1. Acupuncture for chronic headache in primary care: large, pragmatic, randomised trial.
Vickers AJ, et al. BMJ, 2004 Mar. 27; 328 (7442) Cephalgia. Nov. 1999.
Patients receiving acupuncture reported 22 fewer days of headaches per year, used 15% less medication and missed 15% fewer days of work. A systematically reviewed study of 22 randomized controlled trials revealed “acupuncture has a role in the treatment of recurrent headaches.”
2. Acupuncture in the management of back pain.
Kuruvilla AC, MD Medical Acupuncture Journal. Vol. 15, #3
Out of 86 patients suffering from chronic back pain, 69% demonstrated a complete cure and 16% showed significant improvement.
3. Randomised trial of acupuncture compared with conventional massage and “sham” laser acupuncture for treatment of chronic neck pain
Irnich D, et al. British Medical Journal. June 30 2001. 322:1-6.
177 patients with chronic neck pain were randomly assigned acupuncture or massage 81% of the acupuncture group has significant improvement in their pain and ROM. Effects lasted for over 3 months after treatment.
4. Effectiveness of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, controlled trial.
Berman BM et at. Annals of Interal Medicine. Dec. 21, 2004; 141(12) 901-910.
A randomized, controlled trial conducted by the U. of Maryland School of Medicine suggests that acupuncture can provide effective pain relief and improve function for osteoarthritis of the knee.
5. Acupuncture in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome: A randomized controlled trial.
Yang CP, Hsieh CL, Wang NH, Li TC, Hwang KL, Yu SC, Chang MH Clin. J Pain, 2009. May 25 (4): 327-33.
A study that randomly assigned participants to treatment of acupuncture of prednisone for carpal tunnel syndrome, demonstrated that the acupuncture group had a significant decrease in distal motor latency compared with the steroid group.
6. Pain treatment with acupuncture for patients with fibromyalgia
Targino RA, Imamura M, Kaziyama HH, Souza LP, Hsing WT, Imamura ST Curr Pain Headache Rep. 22 Oct; (5):379-83 Tenth Ann. Symposium 2003; 29
This study showed that more than half of all patients had clinically significant improvement in pain (46%), fatigue (51%), sleep (47%), and general well-being (45%). Another study revealed positive change in the VAS, myalgic index, number of tender points, and improvement in quality of life based on the SF-36 questionnaire.
7. The effects of acupuncture therapy on insomnia
Sok, SR et al. J Adv Nurs., 2003 Nov; 44(4): 375-84. J Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2002 Dec; 22(4):276-77
Acupuncture is 90.44% effective for treatment of insomnia, according to one study. It improved the quality of sleep and helped patients overcome the complications from sleep medications.
8. Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy
Paulus, W et al. J Fertility and Sterility, 2002 April; 77(4):721-724
Fertility & Sterility found acupuncture improves pregnancy success rates by 50% in women undergoing in-vitro fertilization
9. Acupuncture and tennis elbow
White, Cummings, Filshie. An introduction to western medical acupuncture. 2008; 9-11.
A study conducted by a workers’ compensation group concluded that acupuncture was an effective treatment. 86% of patients had resolution or improvement in lateral epicondylitis.