Researchers at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in Iran, have found that acupuncture combined with medication for anxiety, produces significantly better treatment responses for the condition, than does medication alone. A total of 112 patients with anxiety were randomised to receive either selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) alone, or SSRIs plus sham acupuncture, or SSRIs plus true acupuncture. Treatments were administered to the three groups for four weeks, with 12 acupuncture sessions delivered at three per week.
By the end of the treatment period, anxiety scores differed significantly between the three groups, with the true acupuncture group exhibiting a significantly larger reduction compared with the other two groups.
(Additive effects of acupuncture in alleviating anxiety: A double-blind, three-arm, randomized clinical trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, November 2021.)
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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