Researchers have found that acupuncture can be used as an adjunctive therapy to reduce breathlessness in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A total of 72 patients with COPD, mean age 67, were randomised to receive either real or sham control acupuncture in thirty minute sessions three times per week for eight weeks. Acupuncture was given in addition to patients’ usual daily medication.
At the end of the trial, six-minute walking distance and health-related quality of life measures had all improved significantly more in the acupuncture group compared with the sham group.
(Acupuncture for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): A multicenter, randomized, sham-controlled trial. Medicine (Baltimore), October 2016.)
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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