Acupuncture for patients with mild hypertension: A randomized controlled trial.

Acupuncture may be beneficial for patients with mild hypertension, but the evidence is not convincing. We aimed to examine the effect of acupuncture on blood pressure (BP) reduction in patients with mild hypertension. We conducted a multicenter, single-blind, sham-controlled, randomized trial in eleven hospitals in China. The trial included 428 patients with systolic blood pressure (SBP) from 140 to 159 mm Hg and/or with diastolic blood pressure (DBP) from 90 to 99 mm Hg. The patients were randomly assigned to receive 18 sessions of affected meridian acupuncture (n = 107) or non-affected meridian acupuncture (n = 107) or sham acupuncture (n = 107) during 6 weeks, or to stay in a waiting-list control (n = 107). All patients received 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring at weeks 6, 9, and 12. We included 415 participants in the intention-to-treat analysis. The two acupuncture groups were pooled in the analysis, since they had no difference in all outcomes. SBP decreased at week 6 in acupuncture group vs sham acupuncture vs waiting-list group (7.2 ± 11.0 mm Hg vs 4.1 ± 11.5 mm Hg vs 4.1 ± 13.2 mm Hg); acupuncture was not superior to sham acupuncture (mean difference 2.7 mm Hg, 95% CI 0.4 to 5.9, adjusted P = 0.103) or waiting-list control (2.9 mm Hg, 95% CI -0.2 to 6.0, adjusted P = 0.078). However, acupuncture was superior to sham acupuncture (3.3 mm Hg, 95% CI 0.2 to 6.3, adjusted P = 0.035) and waiting-list control (4.8 mm Hg, 95% CI 1.8 to 7.8, P < 0.001) at week 9. Acupuncture had a small effect size on the reduction of BP in patients with mild hypertension.

[A Newly-made Rat Holder for Convenient Acupuncture Needle Insertion].

In the present article, the authors introduce a newly-made rat holder device for easily inserting acupuncture needles into the acupoints at any parts of the body. This device is easy in operation and higher in applicability, being worthy of popularization for researchers engaging in experimental studies.

[Effect of acupuncture along affected meridian on the MME gene expression of migraine patients without aura of gan-yang hyperactivity syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture along affected meridian on the mem- brane metallo-endopeptidase (MME) gene expression of migraine patients without aura (MO) of Gan-yang hyperactivity syndrome (GYHS). METHODS: Totally 20 MO patients of GYHS were randomly assigned to the acupoint group (acupuncture along affected meridian) and the non-acupoint group, 10 cases in each group. Needling was performed once per day for 10 consecutive days. Gene chip technology was used to obtain two sets of gene expression profiles and analyzed using Gene Ontology (GO). RESULTS: In the acupoint group, MME gene expression decreased after needling (P = 0.0023).That gene was rich in the beta-amyloid metabolic process (P = 3.16E-05) and the peptide metabolic process (P = 0.009612). Its expression was not seen in the non-acupoint group. CONCLUSION: The effect of point selection along affected meridian could be achieved possibly by regulating the MME gene expression.

Acupuncture for patients with mild hypertension: study protocol of an open-label multicenter randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Several studies using acupuncture to treat essential hypertension have been carried out. However, whether acupuncture is efficacious for hypertension is still controversial. Therefore, this trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for patients with mild hypertension. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a large scale, open-label, multicenter, randomized controlled clinical trial with four parallel arms. We will recruit 428 hypertensive patients with systolic blood pressure (SBP) between 140 and 159 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between 90 and 99 mmHg. The participants will be randomly assigned to four different groups (three acupuncture groups and one waiting list group) (1).The affected meridian acupuncture group (n = 107) is treated with acupoints on the affected meridians (2).The non-affected meridian acupuncture group (n = 107) is treated with acupoints on the non-affected meridians (3).The invasive sham acupuncture group (n = 107) is provided with sham acupoints treatment (4).The waiting-list group (n = 107) is not offered any intervention until they complete the trial. Each patient allocated to acupuncture groups will receive 18 sessions of acupuncture treatment over 6 weeks. This trial will be conducted in 11 hospitals in China. The primary endpoint is the change in average 24-hSBP before and 6 weeks after randomization. The secondary endpoints are average SBP and average DBP during the daytime and night-time, and 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36), and so on. DISCUSSION: This is the first large scale, multicenter, randomized, sham controlled trial of acupuncture for essential hypertension in China. It may clarify the efficacy of acupuncture as a treatment for mild hypertension. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01701726.

[Effect of acupuncture on quality of life in post-ischemic stroke patients with dysphagia].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture on quality of life (QOL) in post-ischemic stroke patients with dysphagia. METHODS: Sixty-six patients with dysphagia were randomly assigned to 3 groups, the 23 patients in the electro-acupuncture (EA) group treated by EA, 18 in the control group received rehabilitation training combined with acupoint percutaneous electric stimulation, and 25 in the acupoint token puncturing (TP) group received rehabilitation training combined with acupoint TP, once every day for 20 days in total. Changes in QOL scale specified for dysphagia of patients before and after treatment were compared. RESULTS: The total effective rate was 69.6% in the EA group, 50.0% in the control group and 64.0% in the TP group with insignificant difference among them (P > 0.05), but the improvements dealing with patients' general condition, time for taking food, frequency of uneasiness, emotion, appetite, social intercourse ability, fatigue, sleep and mental health, etc. in the EA group were superior to those in the other two groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture could improve the QOL of patients with dysphagia after ischemic stroke.

[Study on the epidemiology and risk factors on dysphagia after ischemic stroke in Chengdu City, China].

OBJECTIVE: To study the incidence and the risk factors of dysphagia after ischemic stroke in Chengdu City, China. METHODS: Review was made with unified questionnaire on dysphagia after ischemic stroke in 563 patients from four hospitals, from January to December 2005. Over 20 risk factors related to dysphagia after ischemic stroke were analyzed by logistic regression. RESULTS: The total incidence of dysphagia after ischemic stroke was 13.3% in Chengdu. Data from logistic regression analysis indicated that gender, morbidity frequency, basal nuclei, periventricular lesion, hypertension, pneumonia, hyperlipemia, cervical spondylosisi, internal carotid artherosclerosis were closely related to dysphagia after ischemic stroke,with OR values as 0.416, 0.489, 0.327, 0.454, 2.187, 2.146, 0.352, 0.242 and 0.273 respectively. CONCLUSION: The total incidence was lower than literature published from home and abroad. Gender, morbidity frequency, basal nuclei, periventricular lesion, hypertension, pneumonia, hyperlipemia, cervical spondylosisi and internal carotid artherosclerosis seemed to be risk factors to dysphagia after ischemic stroke.

[Evaluation and analysis on the methodology of clinical trials of acupuncture treatment of dysphagia due to ischemic stroke].

From the angle of clinical study methodology, the authors of the present paper sum up the related articles on acupuncture treatment of dysphagia caused by ischemic stroke published in the past decade from 1) randomized control trials, 2) non-controlled observation on a group of cases, and 3) case report. The authors point out some defects as lack of description on the random method, lack of united standards for acupoint recipes, acupuncture-needle manipulations, duration of treatment, united and authorized standards for assessing the therapeutic effect, intent-to-treat analysis, etc in the current clinical studies on acupuncture treatment of apoplectic dysphagia, and thus, the rationality and reliability of conclusions about the therapeutic effects of acupuncture for apoplectic dysphagia in many articles are limited. In order to further confirm the effectiveness of acupuncture for dysphagia resulting from ischemic stroke and to provide enough and reliable clinical evidence, it is necessary to adopt the principles and methods of evidence-based medicine to improve our clinical trials and particularly to look for the best model favoring the development of acu-moxibustion study in the coming days.