A small randomised, controlled study undertaken by Brazilian researchers, suggests that acupuncture helps premenstrual depression and anxiety. Thirty volunteers diagnosed with the symptoms were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture or sham acupuncture as a control, twice a week for two menstrual cycles, giving a total of sixteen treatments per participant.
At the end of the treatment period, symptoms of anxiety and depression in both groups had reduced, but in the acupuncture group, the reductions were significantly greater. Mean anxiety scores in the acupuncture group reduced by 59%, compared with 21% in the sham group. Mean depression scores in the acupuncture group reduced by 52%, compared with 20% in the sham group.
(Effects of acupuncture on the symptoms of anxiety and depression caused by premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Acupuncture in Medicine, on-line September 2013.)
Author: Robin Costello
I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training.
I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.
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