Evaluation of the improvement effect of laser acupuncture biostimulation in asthmatic children by exhaled inflammatory biomarker level of nitric oxide.

Variable therapy of asthma is not sufficient yet to achieve good asthma control. Therapy decision requires serial investigations. Low-level laser acupuncture is a suitable non-invasive modality of complementary medicine. The exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is easy and useful to evaluate the efficacy of drugs or novel therapy. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of low-level laser biostimulation of acupuncture points on asthma improvement in children. Forty-eight asthmatic children were subdivided into case (laser) group, which received 12 direct contact low-power laser acupuncture sessions (three sessions/week) on specific traditional Chinese acupuncture points for bronchial asthma, and control asthmatic group, which received sham laser acupuncture on the same acupoints and number of sessions of the case (laser) group. Low-power Multichannel Aculas-AM laser (grade II) of wave length 780 nm, output power 800 mw, and beam spot size 0.1 cm2 with continuous mode was used. Eighteen acupoints were stimulated for 2 min, giving energy of 9.6 J/cm2/acupoint. The total session time was 3 min. Both groups were evaluated pre- and post-laser acupuncture intervention by recording levels of asthma control, pulmonary function, and EBC nitric oxide. In the case (laser) group, 91.7 % of patients experienced an improvement in the level of asthma control versus 25 % in the control group (p < 0.001). This was associated with a significant decrease of the breath condensate FENO concentration (p < 0.001) and significant increase of spirometry parameters (p < 0.001) in the case (laser) group. Application of laser acupuncture treatment given with conventional therapy can effectively improve bronchial asthma more than prescription of medications alone could.

Improvement of asthma control after laser acupuncture and its impact on exhaled 8-isoprostane as an oxidative biomarker in chronic bronchial asthma.

Traditional medicine may not control bronchial asthma. Many patients have uncontrolled symptoms and the underlying ongoing inflammation is persistent. OBJECTIVE: to assess efficacy of laser acupuncture in improving asthma symptoms and underlying oxidative stress through monitoring exhaled 8-isoprostane. METHOD: 48 asthmatic (case group) received successive low level laser acupuncture sessions to stimulate acupoints for chronic asthma and 24 asthmatics received deactivated laser acupuncture sessions (control group). Asthma symptoms, asthma control questionnaire, concentration of 8-Isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate and airway resistance were assessed before and after laser acupuncture therapy. RESULTS: After the completion of the course of laser acupuncture therapy, we observed significant improvement of asthma symptoms. Asthma control questionnaire improved from 9.7 ±â€¯3.3 to 21.8 ±â€¯3.6 (p 0.001). EBC 8-Isoprostane dropped from 14.7 ±â€¯5.4 to 8.1 ±â€¯5.0 (p 0.001). The airway resistance at R5 and R20 significantly decreased from 116.6 ±â€¯25.8 & 124.5 ±â€¯31.2 to 101.5 ±â€¯25.6 &110.9 ±â€¯29.9 respectively (p 0.001). Control patients who received sham acupuncture therapy did not show such improvement. CONCLUSION: Laser acupuncture is an effective modality in treating bronchial asthma as evidenced by improved symptoms, airway resistance, and oxidative biomarkers.