Category: Acupuncture Research & Miscellaneous Conditions

Research from Taipei Medical University in Taiwan shows that auricular (ear) acupuncture can improve dry mouth symptoms in older adults. A total of 75 such adults were randomised to receive eight weeks of either true ear acupuncture or sham ear acupuncture. After eight weeks of treatment, the true acupuncture group reported significantly improved dry mouth, ease of speaking, swallowing, amount of saliva, dry throat and thirst, compared with the control group. They also demonstrated higher objective saliva flow than the control group.

(Efficacy of auricular acupuncture in improving dry mouth among an institutionalised older population: A randomised controlled study. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 3 February 2023.)

Hospital and university researchers in Taiwan have found that acupuncture treatment of high blood pressure in the elderly, alongside usual medication, delivers a host of other benefits. Seventy patients aged 65 and above, with hypertension and impaired mobility, receiving home care, were randomly allocated to have either standard antihypertensive drugs, or acupuncture alongside standard drugs. Acupuncture was given twice a week for 12 consecutive weeks. Patients were taking between one and three antihypertensive drugs.

At the end of the treatment period, the patients receiving the combination therapy had lower physical pain levels, improved physical and mental health, a greater ability to undertake daily living activities, and lower systolic blood pressure. The drug-only group showed no significant changes.

(Assessment of quality of life & activities of daily living among elderly patients with hypertension & impaired physical mobility in home health care by antihypertensive drugs plus acupuncture: A CONSORT-compliant, randomized controlled trial. Medicine (Baltimore), 18 March 2022.)

The British Medical Journal has published research suggesting that clinical practice and healthcare policy underuse acupuncture treatment, despite rigorous systematic reviews documenting high or moderate certainty evidence. A team of Chinese authors identified 2471 systematic reviews published between 2000 and 2020. They concluded that a majority were methodologically rigorous, and a substantial portion provided moderate or high certainty evidence.

The team recommends that in their decision-making, health bodies make better use of the evidence for acupuncture’s effectiveness. Evidence should be better disseminated to clinicians and patients. Clinicians, researchers and funders should set joint research agendas. Researchers and granting agencies should focus on areas where acupuncture has shown large effects supported with low certainty evidence, and avoid research in areas where moderate or high certainty evidence has already proven the benefit of acupuncture.

(Evidence on acupuncture therapies is underused in clinical practice and healthcare policy. BMJ, 25 February 2022.)

Researchers at the University of Alfenas Nursing School in Brazil, have found that ear acupuncture helps diabetic foot, as measured by improved vascular parameters after a course of treatment. A total of 44 patients with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to receive either five sessions of auricular (ear) acupuncture, or to a no-treatment control group.

Patients receiving acupuncture were observed to have significantly increased lower limb blood circulation and raised plantar temperature, compared with the control group.

(The effects of auricular acupuncture on vascular parameters on the risk factors for diabetic foot: A randomized clinical trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, August 2021.)

A team of authors from university hospitals in Munich and Beijing, has concluded that acupuncture is one of the safest medical treatments available. In a systematic review, they surveyed data from 21 studies, covering nearly 13 million acupuncture treatments.

Meta-analyses indicated one minor adverse event in 9.3% of patients during a series of treatments. Serious adverse events were rare, with estimates of 1.01 per 10 000 patients and 8 million treatments. Those requiring any medical treatment were uncommon, and estimated at 1.14 per 1000 patients. Half of the adverse events reported, involved bleeding, pain or inflammation at the needling site.

The authors conclude that acupuncture can be considered among the safer treatments in medicine. Serious adverse events are rare, and the most common minor ones are very mild.   

(Acupuncture-related adverse events: systematic review & meta-analyses of prospective clinical studies. BMJ Open, 6 September 2021.)