[Top-cited academic articles in acupuncture and moxibustion research].

OBJECTIVE: To identify the 100 top-cited articles published in journals dedicated to acupuncture & moxibustion research and analyze their characteristics so as to explore its academic state. METHODS: All the articles were collected from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI, January 1, 1943 to December 25, 2016), Web of Science (January 1, 1950 to December 25, 2016), WANFANG Database (January 1, 1998 to December 25, 2016). The top-cited articles were selected and analyzed with regard to publication year, number of citations, journals, authors, country or region, institution, title, type and subject. RESULTS: One hundred and two articles were included, 43 Chinese articles and 59 English articles, cited between 146 and 505 times, and the average number of citation was 222. Of the 10 articles cited in the top 10, China and the United States had 4 articles respectively. These articles appeared in 44 journals, 24 articles in Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibustion, followed by 8 articles in Pain. All the articles belonged to 9 countries and regions, 47 articles from mainland China and 21 articles from the United State. Of the 14 institutes whose article number ranked at top 10, Tianjing University of TCM had 8 articles. The first authors published most papers were professor HAN Jisheng and Cherkin DC, each of whom had 4 articles. All the articles were categorized into basic science article (n=27), clinical research (n=33) and literature study (n=42). The main topics were pain diseases and brain impairment. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis of high cited articles reveals academic trends and directions of acupuncture and moxibustion. Acupuncture and moxibustion are more and more recognized by mainstream medicine in the world, but the academic dominance of China has been increasingly challenged by the United States, Germany and so on.

[Visualization analysis of CiteSpace knowledge map for lumbar disc herniation treated with acupuncture and moxibustion].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the researches of acupuncture and moxibustion for lumbar disc herniation (LDH) in recent 15 years and summarize the research direction and collect the knowledge structure. METHODS: The relevant literature on acupuncture and moxibustion for the treatment of LDH was retrieved from CNKI. After Refworks format reversion, the CiteSpace software was used to create the reproductive map of the authors, research institutions and keywords in the literature on acupuncture and moxibustion for LDH. RESULTS: In the map, 701 authors were included and 11 authors of them had published ≥ 3 papers; 740 institutions were included and 20 institutions of them had published ≥ 3 papers; 149 keywords were included and 13 keywords of them had appeared ≥ 20 times. CONCLUSIONS: In a study of acupuncture and moxibustion for LDH, it is required to specify the nomenclature, strengthen the cooperation among institutions, promote the communication among authors and construct the treatment system, moreover, to deepen the study on the therapeutic methods, in which the researches have been conducted, and to explore a new therapeutic approach on the basis of the original therapeutic methods.

Use of moxibustion as an auxiliary treatment in wound healing of the snake Eunectes murinus (anaconda): case report / Uso da moxabustão como tratamento auxiliar em ferimentos na serpente Eunectes murinus (anaconda): relato de caso

Large snakes of the Boidae family, such as Eunectes murinus, require special techniques to facilitate their care when they are sick. Thus, an acupuncture technique called moxibustion was applied that utilizes burning of the weed Artemisia vulgaris for heating at specific points on the skin without handling the animals. The objective of this case report was to describe the use of moxibustion acupuncture as an auxiliary treatment for snakes. A female, 4.0 meters long and weighing about 30 kg, belonging to a Biological Museum of the Butantan Institute, showed symptoms of weight loss, anorexia and hyperemia in the ventral region. The snake was examined and treated with ciprofloxacin antibiotics and a month showed an area of necrosis that exposed the muscles in the dorsal cranial region. The female was treated with moxibustion and application of silver sulfadiazine cream at the site of the lesion. After seven months of treatment, the animal showed signs of good healing with complete wound closure. This technique of moxibustion could be easily applied without restraint, an important detail given the size of the snake, and with successful closure of the lesion.(AU)

Grandes serpentes da família Boidae, como Eunectes murinus, requerem técnicas especiais para facilitar seus cuidados quando estão doentes. Assim, uma técnica de acupuntura, chamada de moxabustão, foi aplicada utilizando-se a queima da erva Artemisia vulgaris para aquecer pontos específicos na pele, sem manusear os animais. O objetivo deste relato de caso foi descrever o uso da acupuntura moxabustão como um tratamento auxiliar para serpentes. Uma fêmea com 4,0m de comprimento e pesando cerca de 30kg, pertencente ao Museu Biológico do Instituto Butantan, apresentou sintomas de perda de peso, anorexia e hiperemia na região ventral. A serpente foi examinada e tratada com o antibiótico ciprofloxacina e um mês depois mostrou uma área de necrose, que expôs os músculos da região dorsal cranial. A fêmea foi tratada com moxabustão e aplicação do creme de sulfadiazina de prata no local da lesão. Depois de sete meses de tratamento, o animal mostrou sinais de boa cicatrização, com fechamento completo da ferida. Essa técnica de moxabustão pode ser facilmente aplicada sem restrição, um detalhe importante dado o tamanho da serpente, e com fechamento bem-sucedido da lesão.(AU)

[Analysis on literature regarding acupuncture-moxibustion with high impact factor journal of SCI during the recent 5 years].

The status of acupuncture-moxibustion is more and more recognized by mainstream medicine in the world in recent years, and literature regarding acupuncture-moxibustion with high impact factor (IF) published in the worldwide mainstream medicine journals is also gradually growing by years. To understand the situation of related literature, literature regarding acupuncture-moxibustion with IF of more than 10 in Science Citation Index (SCI) during the recent 5 years was retrieved. The number, the types, the diseases involved, the publishing states of the acquired articles and the source, the citation, the IF of the publishing journals were analyzed and summarized. Additionally, some of the research foci, the new research tendencies and the deficiencies of research were discussed. The thoughts and suggestions are expected to be provided for further research of acupuncture.

[Statistical analysis of acupuncture-moxibustion literature based on SCIE and GoPubMed].

By bibliometric method, acupuncture-moxibustion literature from 2003 to 2013 included by SCIE and GoPubMed was analyzed. The number of annually published literature, distribution of country, agency and area, author, journal, subject category, high-frequency words and H index were analyzed to explore the current situation and development trend of acupuncture and moxibustion.

[Bibliometrics analysis on researches of illness spectrum for acu-moxibustion therapy and prospect].

The research on indications of acu-moxibustion is very important for effectively guiding clinical practice. In the present paper, the authors retrieved domestic literature about researches on the disease-spectrum or indications of acu-moxibustion therapy in recent 10 years, and made a bibliometrics analysis according to the described research methods, publishing year, quantity and their proportionate relationship. A total of 18 qualified original papers involving 414 illnesses or clinical conditions were included in the present paper. Among the 414 kinds of clinical conditions or illnesses, 72 were considered to be suitable candidates for acu-moxibustion therapy, including functional dyspepsia, herpes zoster, irritable bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal dysfunction, scapulohumeral periarthritis, cervical syndrome, dyssomnia, acne (cyst type), chronic urticaria, regional neurodermatitis, pain, itching, etc. which belong to illness-spectrum grade-I. Generally, the acu-moxibustion therapy is, in clinical effects, relatively poorer for structural diseases which are attributed to grade-II or grade-III type. Nevertheless, the diversity of clinical indications of acu-moxibustion has been confirmed nowadays. Current studies on illness-spectrum are of certain uniformity and comprehensiveness, but need further extending and perfecting, and need more standardized methods corresponding to principles of the evidence-based medicine.

Recourse to alternative medicine during pregnancy: motivations of women and impact of research findings.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to gain a better understanding of the motivations of pregnant women utilizing moxibustion for breech presentation and to measure the impact of research results on these patients' treatment decisions regarding this alternative medicine technique. DESIGN: The study involved a statistical analysis of two self-administered questionnaires to 212 women who had previously participated in a randomized clinical trial on the efficacy of moxibustion; in addition, a qualitative thematic content analysis for open-ended questions was also performed. RESULTS: Most women (69%) reported treating themselves at least once with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Higher use of CAM was associated with higher education and Caucasian origin. Pregnancy was associated with a significant reduction in utilization of CAMs. After reading the results of a previous randomized clinical trial, which did not demonstrate efficacy of moxibustion, 60% of the women questioned expressed the intention of resorting to this technique in case of a subsequent pregnancy with a fetus in the breech position. The principal motivation was their desire to try anything that may possibly turn such fetuses to increase the chances of delivering them vaginally. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to consider the regard that pregnant women attribute to CAMs for self-care strategies. Despite a lack of scientific evidence supporting the use of moxibustion to address breech presentation, pregnant women consider CAMs, in general, to be safe and effective. Studies investigating the physical and psychologic effects of CAMs will enable clinicians to advise patients better about treatment options.

A study of direct moxibustion using mathematical methods.

Direct moxibustion is an important and widely used treatment method in traditional medical science. The use of a mathematical method to analyse direct moxibustion treatment is necessary and helpful in exploring the new direct moxibustion instruments and their standardisation. Thus, this paper aims to use a mathematical method to study direct moxibustion in skin to demonstrate a direct relationship between direct moxibustion and skin stimuli. In this paper, the transient thermal response of skin layers is analysed to study direct moxibustion using the data got from standardised method to measure the temperature of a burning moxa cone. Numerical simulations based on an appropriate finite element model are developed to predict the heat transfer, thermal damage and thermal stress distribution of barley moxa cones and jujube moxa cones in the skin tissue. The results are verified by the ancient literatures of traditional Chinese medicine and clinical application, and showed that mathematical method can be a good interface between moxa cone and skin tissue providing the numerical value basis for moxibustion.

[Influence factors on supply and demand changes in the field of acupuncture and moxibustion].

Based on principles of health economy and the present situation, the possibility and regularity on changes in the supply and demand field of acupuncture and moxibustion through various viewpoints were analyzed, which included demand and supply elasticity of acup-mox services to market price and the relevant factors, categories and nature of acup-mox services, business idea of supplier on the strength of marginal cost and marginal benefit, expenditure level and inclination of demander, complementary and substitutive treatment of acup-mox therapy, and the relevant time and geographic factors to change in quantity demand and supply. Therefore, it could be applied as reference to redaction and reform of the relevant health economics policy by health administrative management.

Research into acupuncture for respiratory disease in Japan: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: In Japan, studies on acupuncture therapy for respiratory disease have rarely been reported. Additionally, most of the reports are difficult for overseas researchers to access because they are written in Japanese and cannot be located using Medline. PURPOSE: To review studies on acupuncture and moxibustion therapy for respiratory disease conducted in Japan. DATA SOURCES: The results of a literature search using "Igaku Chuo Zasshi Web" and the Medical Online Library, both of which are Japanese databases, covering the period between 1979 and 2006. STUDY SELECTION: This study reviewed references cited in retrieved documents and selected original articles and case reports on acupuncture and moxibustion therapy for respiratory disease. DATA EXTRACTION: The search terms used were "acupuncture" and "respiratory disease", along with "respiratory", "asthma", "COPD", "bronchitis" and "common cold". RESULTS: The study retrieved 34 papers on acupuncture treatment for respiratory disease written in Japanese (9 full papers, 19 case reports and 6 case series). The papers dealt with such conditions as asthma (14 trials), cough variant asthma (one trial), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (seven trials), chronic bronchitis (one trial), usual/idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (one trial) and the common cold (two trials). The study also found eight trials dealing with cold prevention. CONCLUSIONS: A small number of reports on acupuncture and moxibustion treatment for respiratory diseases were found in the Japanese databases. Future studies must use more rigorous evaluation methods, such as randomised controlled trials, to measure the effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy for treating respiratory diseases.

[Analysis on acupuncture and moxibustion literature in Medline database from 2000 to 2007].

To summarize and analyze literature about acupuncture and moxibustion embodied in Medline Database from 2000 to 2007, the articles in Medline PubMed Database were retrieved by different retrieval tactics on line, in combination with artificial statistical analysis on the literature data. Results indicate that among a total of 4 041 articles about acupuncture and moxibustion retrieved from Medline in the 8 years, 628 were published in Chinese and 3071 in English. These articles were involved in 836 journals, including 31 Chinese Journals. Eight hundred and forty-one articles were from China mainland, Beijing (176), Shanghai (136) and Tianjin (43) were the top 3 provinces and cities of literature numbers. It is showed that most acupuncture and moxibustion articles embodied in Medline are published in many foreign publications in English as main, but this situation has greatly changed after Zhongguo Zhenjiu and other journals were cited by Medline since 2006.

[Preliminary study on disease menu of acupuncture and moxibustion abroad].

Sum up clinical diseases and symptoms treated by modern acupuncture and moxibustion and disease menu of acupuncture and moxibustion abroad. By literature research methods, the diseases and symptoms reported in clinically acupuncture and moxibustion randomized controlled paper from 1978-2007 in databank of Pubmed network, USA, were analyzed and summarized, and the number of paper (frequency-times) and conclusion of therapeutic effect (effective and ineffective) of each disease reported were counted up. Five hundred and eighty-seven papers of clinical acupuncture and moxibustion abroad, including 130 diseases and symptoms of 16 systems, were found. In these papers, 110 diseases and symptoms were unanimously considered effective and 16 diseases and symptoms were considered effective by most papers, and one disease was showed by equal number of paper of positive or negative effect, and one disease was considered ineffective by most of the paper, and 2 diseases and symptoms were considered ineffective by all of the papers. It is indicated that acupuncture and moxibustion have wide indications and have been widely applied at home and abroad, and disease menu of acupuncture and moxibustion is enlarging, and acupuncture and moxibustion have a vast application prospects.

Moxibustion and breech presentation: preliminary results.

Moxibustion at the Zhiyin acupuncture point (67 B) is an ancient method of obtaining the version of abnormal presentation of the fetus during the last three months of pregnancy. The authors reviewed the Chinese references on this subject and stressed the importance of parity and gestational age in testing the efficacy of this therapy. Preliminary results are described and compared with those reported in Chinese articles. Success rates in version by moxibustion versus spontaneous version are also compared.