Tai Chi for the prophylaxis of episodic migraine: protocol of a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial with mechanism exploration.

BACKGROUND: Migraine is a complex neurovascular disorder with considerable clinical, social and economic issues. Tai chi has the potential to be an alternative prophylactic treatment for migraine with high safety since the adverse effects and limited efficacy of available medications. AIMS: The proposed study aims to compare the prophylaxis efficacy of 24-week Tai Chi training on migraine attacks with the standard prophylactic medication; and to explore the mechanism of Tai Chi in preventing migraine attacks by analyzing the associations between changes of migraine attacks and changes of neurovascular functions and inflammatory makers. METHOD: This is a two-arm parallel non-inferiority randomized controlled trial. In total 220 Hong Kong Chinese women aged 18-65 years with diagnosis of episodic migraine will be recruited and randomized to either the Tai Chi training group or the standard prophylactic medication group with 1:1 ratio, and receive the 24 weeks of modified 33-short form Yang-style Tai Chi training and the standard prophylactic medications, respectively. A 24-week follow-up will be implemented for both groups. For efficacy examination, the primary outcome was the frequency of migraine attacks measured by the migraine diary; and for the mechanism exploration, the primary outcome was the volume and number of white matter hyperintensity (WMH) measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The measurements will be conducted at the baseline, 24th weeks, and 48th weeks. Linear mixed model will be adopted to comprehensively analyze the changes of variables within and between groups. DISCUSSION: Given the importance of reducing disease burden and financial cost of migraine attacks, the findings of this study will provide new insights regarding the role of Tai Chi in alleviating migraine burden and further shed light on the mechanism action of Tai Chi on preventing headache attacks. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05690737. Registered on January 28, 2023.

Effects of Acupuncture upon cerebral hemodynamics in cerebral small vessel disease: A pilot study.

Background and aims: Recent preclinical studies and meta-analysis of clinical trials suggested that acupuncture may improve cognition in cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). We investigated the cerebral hemodynamics of acupuncture in subjects with CSVD and compared its impact upon the cerebral hemodynamics in normal elderly subjects. Methods: 10 subjects with CSVD (CSVD group) and 10 aged-matched control subjects who had no or insignificant CSVD (control group) were recruited. A single session of acupuncture was applied for 30 min in both groups. We assessed the effect of our acupuncture intervention on cerebral hemodynamics by transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD). Peak systolic velocity (PSV) and pulsatility index (PI) of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) were assessed. Results: We observed that PSV increased by a maximum of 39% at 20 min (p<0.05), while there was no significant change in PI in the CSVD group during the acupuncture session. In the control group, although we observed no significant change in PSV during the acupuncture session, there was a significant decrease in PI by a maximum of 22% at 20 min (p<0.05). No adverse events were reported during or after the procedure. Conclusion: This study suggested that our acupuncture prescription was associated with an increase in cerebral blood flow in subjects with established moderate to severe CSVD yet without apparent impact on distal vascular resistance. While, in subjects with no or insignificant CSVD, it may reduce cerebral small vessel distal vascular resistance. A larger study is needed to confirm our findings.

Fostering gerontology students' competence in Interprofessional collaborative practice.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) is increasingly recognised as being crucial for the provision of holistic care and optimising health outcomes among older adults, many with multiple complex health problems. However, little is known about the challenges of facilitating this in practice. Therefore, this study explores these issues from the perspective of different healthcare professionals and how this might inform interprofessional education curricula. METHODS: Sixteen different healthcare professionals working in a variety of aged care (acute, rehabilitative and community) settings were invited to participate in individual semi-structured in-depth interviews designed to: (i) explore the meaning of IPCP; (ii) explore the facilitators of and barriers to IPCP; and (iii) examine the opportunities and challenges in interprofessional gerontological education. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim with thematic analysis conducted by two independent researchers. RESULTS: Three major themes emerged from the interviews: the need for IPCP; role preparedness, scope and liability; and strategies for interprofessional education. Respondents shared a common belief that IPCP improves the quality of life of older adults in both hospital and community settings by improving person-centred coordinated care and decision making in care planning. However, respondents perceived major barriers to IPCP to be lack of knowledge about healthcare professionals' scope of practice, lack of training in interprofessional collaboration, professional culture and stereotypes, and liability issues. Suggested approaches to overcome these barriers included innovative teaching and learning approaches, engaging students early on in the curriculum of health professional degree programmes, and enhancing collaborative effective communication in health and social care settings. CONCLUSIONS: It is anticipated that these findings will be used to inform the development of a new interprofessional gerontological education curriculum that aims to enhance students' competence in IPCP.

Overview of systematic reviews with meta-analyses on acupuncture in post-stroke cognitive impairment and depression management.

Background: Acupuncture has been using as an alternative non-pharmacological therapy in the management of post stroke depression and cognitive impairment but its effectiveness and safety remain controversial. We conducted an overview of systematic reviews with meta-analyses to evaluate the evidence on the effect of acupuncture in the treatment of stroke with conventional medicine intervention. Methods: Systematic reviews summarized the treatment effects of acupuncture for post stroke cognitive impairment and post stroke depression were considered eligible. Methodological quality of included systematic reviews was assessed using A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2). Results: Four systematic reviews on post stroke cognitive impairment and ten systematic reviews on post stroke depression with good methodological quality were included. Meta-analyses revealed that acupuncture plus cognitive rehabilitation; and acupuncture or moxibustion plus cognitive rehabilitation, versus cognitive rehabilitation demonstrated statistically significant increase in Mini-Mental State Examination scores in compared to cognitive rehabilitation after 4 weeks treatment [Pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) = 3.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.06 to 4.21, I2 = 36%]; and (Pooled WMD = 3.22, 95% CI = 2.09 to 4.34, I2 = 0%). Furthermore, acupuncture versus antidepressant demonstrated statistically significant improve depression measured by increasing in 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale in comparing to cognitive rehabilitation after 2 weeks treatment (Pooled WMD= -2.34, 95% CI= -3.46 to -1.22, I2 = 5%). Acupuncture usage was not associated with increased risk of adverse events. Conclusions: Acupuncture is safe and improves cognitive function and depressive disorder without obvious serious adverse events for post stroke patients.

Effects of Acupuncture on the Recovery Outcomes of Stroke Survivors with Shoulder Pain: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Poststroke shoulder pain limits stroke survivors' physical functioning, impairs their ability to perform daily activities, and compromises their quality of life. The use of acupuncture to manage shoulder pain after a stroke is believed to free the blockage of energy flow and produce analgesic effects, but the evidence is unclear. We therefore conducted a systematic review to summarize the current evidence on the effects of acupuncture on the recovery outcomes of stroke survivors with shoulder pain. METHODS: Fourteen English and Chinese databases were searched for data from January 2009 to August 2017. The review included adult participants with a clinical diagnosis of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke who had developed shoulder pain and had undergone conventional acupuncture, electroacupuncture, fire needle acupuncture, or warm needle acupuncture. The participants in the comparison group received the usual stroke care only. RESULTS: Twenty-nine randomized controlled trials were included. Most studies were assessed as having a substantial risk of bias. Moreover, due to the high heterogeneity of the acupuncture therapies examined, pooling the results in a meta-analysis was not appropriate. A narrative summary of the results is thus presented. The review showed that conventional acupuncture can be associated with benefits in reducing pain and edema and improving upper extremity function and physical function. The effects of conventional acupuncture on improving shoulder range of motion (ROM) are in doubt because this outcome was only examined in two trials. Electroacupuncture might be effective in reducing shoulder pain and improving upper extremity function, and conclusions on the effects of electroacupuncture on edema, shoulder ROM, and physical function cannot be drawn due to the limited number of eligible trials. The evidence to support the use of fire needle or warm needle acupuncture in stroke survivors with shoulder pain is also inconclusive due to the limited number of studies. CONCLUSION: Although most studies reviewed concluded that conventional and electroacupuncture could be effective for management of shoulder pain after stroke, the very high potential for bias should be considered. Further work in this area is needed that employs standardized acupuncture treatment modalities, endpoint assessments, and blinding of treatments.