ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the most common concomitant symptoms and the urgent demand of solution in the breast cancer patients undergoing postoperative endocrine treatment, as well as the acceptance and expectation of acupuncture in the patients so as to provide the scientific data for promoting the application of acupuncture in the breast cancer patients. METHODS: Breast cancer patients treated in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital from January 2022 to March 2023 were randomly selected as the subjects. Using "questionnaire star" website, the questionnaire was conducted to investigate the relevant concomitant symptoms of the patients in postoperative endocrine treatment and the questions related to acupuncture treatment. RESULTS: In this study, 229 questionnaires were distributed and 211 valid ones were collected, with the response rate of 92.1%. Among these patients, the first three common symptoms were sleep disorders (157 cases, 74.4%), hot flashes (138 cases, 65.4%) and joint / muscle pain (118 cases, 55.9%)ï¼the top three symptoms to be solved the most urgently were sleep disorders (131 cases, 62.1%), joint / muscle pain (62 cases, 29.4%) and hot flashes (45 cases, 21.3%). 79.1% of the patients (167 cases) were willing to receive acupuncture treatment because of the high expectations on its potential effect (93%). 20.9% of them (44 cases) refused acupuncture because they were worried not to be treated by the experienced physicians of TCM (52%) or afraid of needling feelings (48%). The average expectation value of acupuncture treatment was 4.02 points (5 points for the total score) among patients willing to receive acupuncture treatment. The main purposes of receiring acupuncture for the patients undergoing endocrine treatment were to strengthen the immune function (92%), reduce the adverse reactions (83%), and improve the physical condition (75%), et al. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep disorder is one of the most concerned symptoms in endocrine treatment for the patients after breast cancer surgery. The patients highly expect for acupuncture treatment even though some patients dislike the needling sensation. How to provide the acceptable and high-quality acupuncture services for cancer patients will be one of the major directions of acupuncture research in the future.
Subject(s)
Acupuncture Therapy , Breast Neoplasms , Sleep Wake Disorders , Humans , Female , Breast Neoplasms/therapy , Breast Neoplasms/surgery , Middle Aged , Cross-Sectional Studies , Adult , Sleep Wake Disorders/therapy , Sleep Wake Disorders/etiology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Aged , Hot Flashes/therapy , Myalgia/therapy , Myalgia/etiology , Young AdultABSTRACT
Sepsis is a condition that greatly impacts the brain, leading to neurological dysfunction and heightened mortality rates, making it one of the primary organs affected. Injury to the central nervous system can be attributed to dysfunction of various organs throughout the entire body and imbalances within the peripheral immune system. Furthermore, central nervous system injury can create a vicious circle with infection-induced peripheral immune disorders. We collate the pathogenesis of septic encephalopathy, which involves microglial activation, programmed cell death, mitochondrial dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, neurotransmitter imbalance, and blood-brain barrier disruption. We also spotlight the effects of intestinal flora and its metabolites, enterocyte-derived exosomes, cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, peripheral T cells and their cytokines on septic encephalopathy.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a major disease that threatens human life and health. Its pathogenesis is complex and still not fully clarified. The clinical treatment is mainly supportive and lacks specific treatment methods. Acupuncture treatment can inhibit immune inflammatory reactions, neuroinflammatory reactions, oxidative stress levels, and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, improve lung function, and relieve migraine, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. However, whether acupuncture treatment is suitable for treating these symptoms in patients with COVID-19 still needs to be investigated. For this review, the literature was systematically searched for multiple databases to summarize the mechanisms of acupuncture treatment for COVID-19-related symptoms and complications. A complex network analysis of acupoints and symptoms was also performed to clarify acupoint selection in the acupuncture treatment of symptoms related to COVID-19. The evidence indicates that acupuncture can improve the respiratory, digestive, nervous, and mental and psychological symptoms related to COVID-19 by inhibiting immune inflammatory reactions, regulating intestinal flora, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress level, cardiomyocyte apoptosis, neurotransmitter release, and HPA axis activity, and alleviating basic diseases such as diseases of the vascular system. Acupuncture can improve various clinical and concomitant symptoms of COVID-19; however, its mechanism of action is complex and requires further study. Graphical abstract: http://links.lww.com/AHM/A54.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate how electroacupuncture (EA) at Zusanli (ST 36) with varying intensities of stimulation affects dorsal root nerve signals in normal rats. METHODS: Adult female Wistar rats were examined after drug-induced anesthesia and isolation of the L4 dorsal root associated with the Zusanli (ST 36) acupoint, using bipolar platinum electrodes. We applied EA at Zusanli (ST 36) with a continuous wave waveform for 1 min, and recorded action potentials in the L4 spinal cord dorsal root nerve with a frequency of 5 Hz and various current intensity levels (approximately 1-4 mA). In addition, we tested EA with a frequency of 15 Hz and current intensity of 1-4 mA. The L4 spinal cord dorsal nerve bundle action potentials were measured for 1 min of EA. To analyze the discharge frequency, we used the maximum Lyapunov exponent and Lempel-Ziv (LZ) complexity. RESULTS: At a fixed frequency, with increasing intensity of EA, dorsal root nerve filament discharge frequency revealed an initial increase, followed by a decreasing trend. A stimulation intensity of 3 mA induced a significantly greater discharge frequency, compared with stimulation intensities of 2 and 4 mA. EA stimulation evoked neuroelectric signals with chaotic characteristics. Increased intensity led to an initial increase in LZ complexity which then decreased, with a stimulation strength of 3 mA inducing the highest level of LZ complexity. CONCLUSION: EA of different intensities can induce nerve action potential encoding with different features.
