[Effect of acupoint catgut embedding therapy on joint attention and social communication in children with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical effect on the joint attention and social communication in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) between the combined treatment of acupoint catgut embedding therapy with rehabilitation training and the simple application of rehabilitation training. METHODS: A total of 60 children with ASD were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each one. In the control group, the routine ASD rehabilitation training was adopted, including conductive education, speech training and music therapy, once a day. In the observation group, on the base of the treatment as the control group, the catgut embedding therapy was applied to Shenting (GV 24), Baihui (GV 20), Shenmen (HT 7) and the optic area (the point of scalp acupuncture), once a week. In the two groups, the treatment for 4 weeks was as one course, at the interval of 1 week between the courses. A total of 3 courses of treatment were required. The social domain of the autism treatment evaluation checklist (ATEC) and the autism behavior checklist (ABC) were adopted to assess the therapeutic effect of the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment, the scores of each item of the social domain in ATEC and the scores of ABC (feeling, communication, physical movement, language and healthy behavior) were all lower than those before treatment in the two groups (P<0.01). The scores of each item in the observation group were lower than those in the control group after treatment (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The combined treatment of acupoint catgut embedding therapy with the rehabilitation training effectively improves in the joint attention and social communication. The therapeutic effect of this combined treatment is better than the simple application of rehabilitation training.

[Effect of acupoint thread-embedding therapy on the sitting ability of ataxia children with cerebral palsy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effective of acupoint thread-embedding therapy for ataxia children with cerebral palsy. METHODS: A total of 70 ataxia children with cerebral palsy and a Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM, Dimension B) score of <35 were enrolled and randomly divided into thread-embedding group and control group, with 35 children in each group, and 2 children in the thread-embedding group were lost to follow-up. The children in the control group were given routine rehabilitation treatment, including physical therapy, spleen-strengthening, kidney-nourishing, and Governor Vessel-regulating massage, vibroacoustic therapy, and scalp acupuncture, and those in the thread-embedding group were given thread-embedding therapy at the acupoints of Jianyu (LI15), Jianliao (SJ14), Tianzong (SI11), Tianshu (ST25), and HuatuoJiaji points (C4, L1 and L4) in addition to the treatment in the control group, with 6-8 acupoints selected each time, once a week. Each course of treatment was 4 weeks, with an interval of one week between two courses of treatment, and the children were treated for 3 courses. Level of sitting scale (LSS), incurvation reflex, and GMFM score were recorded to evaluate the improvement in sitting ability and clinical outcome. RESULTS: Both groups had significant improvements in LSS, incurvation reflex, and GMFM (Dimension A and B) score after treatment (P<0.01), and the thread-embedding group had significantly greater improvements than the control group (P<0.01). The thread-embedding group had a significantly higher overall response rate than the control group (90.9% [30/33] vs 68.5% [24/35], P<0.01). CONCLUSION: In addition to routine rehabilitation treatment, acupoint thread-embedding therapy can effectively suppress primitive reflex in ataxia children with cerebral palsy and significantly promote their sitting ability, and therefore, it is an effective acupuncture treatment method for ataxia children with cerebral palsy.

[Treatment of autism with scalp acupunctur].

OBJECTIVE: To verify the efficacy on autism treated with scalp acupuncture for regaining the consciousness and opening the orifice in children. METHODS: Seventy cases of child autism were divided into an observation group (30 cases) and a control group (40 cases). In observation group, the cases were treated with scalp acupuncture for regaining the consciousness and opening the orifice, in combination with music therapy and structure education method. Scalp acupuncture was applied to intelligent nine needles (frontal five needles, Sishencong (EX-HN 1)), affection area, heart and liver area, once a day, at the interval once every one week. Totally, 60 treatments made one session. In control group, music therapy and structure education method were applied simply. Clancy Autism Behavior Scale, Childhood Autism Behavior Scale (CARS), Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) and Gesell Developmental Scale (social adaptive behaviors and language development) were adopted to assess the scores before treatment and after 1 session of treatment. RESULTS: After treatment, the scores in Clancy Autism Behavior Scale, CARS and ABC were lower apparently in observation group as compared with those before treatment (all P < 0.01), and the scores in Clancy Autism Behavior Scale and ABC were lower than those in control group (both P < 0.01). In observation group, the scores of social adaptive behavior scale and language development scale were improved obviously after treatment (both P < 0.01), which were all higher than those in control group (both P < 0.01). In observation, between the group aged from 4 to 6 years and the group aged from 2 to 3 years, the value differences in Clancy Autism Behavior Scale, ABC and social adaptive development scale did not present statistical significance in group comparison before and after treatment (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Scalp acupuncture for regaining the consciousness and opening the orifice can significantly improve the efficacy on autism, effectively relieve child autism symptoms and enhance the intelligence, language ability and social adaptive ability. Moreover, the efficacy cannot be impacted by child's age.

[Progress in researches on the specificity of acupoints].

In the present paper, the authors introduce the development of researches on the specificity of acupoints in morphological structure (nerves, blood vessels, musculotendons, connective tissues, etc), biophysical characteristics (electricity, sonics, photology, thermology, electromagnetism), pathological response, and effectiveness. However, the aforementioned researches are basically at the stage of phenomenon-observation, some key factors influencing acupoint specificity and the underlying mechanisms have no definite or lack convincing results. Further studies should aim at those acupoints for some effective diseases (or symptoms) of acupuncture by using multiple modern scientific techniques. Some key scientific issues about the biophysical characteristics, pathological responses, efficacy, and combination regularity of acupoints should be solved reasonably. Moreover, theoretical models about acupoint specificity should be established for developing the theory of acupoint learning.