Short-term effects of acupuncture on open-angle glaucoma in retrobulbar circulation: additional therapy to standard medication.

Background. The relation between glaucoma and retrobulbar circulation in the prognosis has been indicated. Purpose. To investigate the effects of acupuncture on retrobulbar circulation in open-angle glaucoma (OAG) patients. Methods. Eleven OAG patients (20 eyes with OAG) who were treated by topical antiglaucoma medications for at least 3 months were enrolled. Acupuncture was performed once at acupoints BL2, M-HN9, ST2, ST36, SP6, KI3, LR3, GB20, BL18, and BL23 bilaterally. Retrobulbar circulation was measured with color Doppler imaging, and intraocular pressure (IOP) was also measured at rest and one hour after rest or before and after acupuncture. Results. The Δ value of the resistive index in the short posterior ciliary artery (P < .01) and the Δ value of IOP (P < .01) were decreased significantly by acupuncture compared with no acupuncture treatment. Conclusions. Acupuncture can improve the retrobulbar circulation and IOP, which may indicate the efficacy of acupuncture for OAG.

A cross-sectional study of the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on undergraduate and graduate students in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a state of emergency was declared in Japan and university classes were suspended, causing concern about the deterioration of the mental health of isolated students. This study aimed to understand students' mental health status during the COVID-19 pandemic and suggest measures to prevent depressive anxiety among them. METHOD: Undergraduate and graduate students at one national and two private universities in the Kansai region were surveyed. The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-6 was used to assess the students' mental health. Questions were included to assess students' awareness of COVID-19 and changes in lifestyle habits, including drinking, smoking, gaming, and other addictive habits. The University of Tokyo Health Sociology's version of the Sense of Coherence Scale was used to assess the ability to cope with stressors. RESULTS: More than 50% of undergraduate and graduate students felt more than mild depressive anxiety and approximately 11% felt severe depressive anxiety, indicating that anxiety about the future worsened the levels of depressive anxiety. Life with reversed day and night schedules was associated with the worsening of depressive anxiety levels, but a high sense of coherence was associated with decreased levels of depressive anxiety. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 pandemic triggered isolation which led to worsening the mental health of undergraduate and graduate students. Psychological support for lifestyle and a sense of coherence is necessary to prevent mental health deterioration among isolated students. LIMITATIONS: As we were unable to contact all students, the sample bias may affect interpretation of the data.

Report on disaster medical operations with acupuncture/massage therapy after the great East Japan earthquake.

The Great East Japan Earthquake inflicted immense damage over a wide area of eastern Japan with the consequent tsunami. Department of Traditional Asian Medicine, Tohoku University, started providing medical assistance to the disaster-stricken regions mainly employing traditional Asian therapies.We visited seven evacuation centers in Miyagi and Fukushima Prefecture and provided acupuncture/massage therapy. While massage therapy was performed manually, filiform needles and press tack needles were used to administer acupuncture. In total, 553 people were treated (mean age, 54.0 years; 206 men, 347 women). Assessment by interview showed that the most common complaint was shoulder/back stiffness. The rate of therapy satisfaction was 92.3%. Many people answered that they experienced not only physical but also psychological relief.At the time of the disaster, acupuncture/massage therapy, which has both mental and physical soothing effects, may be a therapeutic approach that can be effectively used in combination with Western medical practices.

Development of a questionnaire for the diagnosis of Qi stagnation.

The objective of this study was to develop a questionnaire for the diagnosis of Qi stagnation. At first, we made the preliminary version of the questionnaire from 30 symptoms most frequently mentioned about Qi stagnation in classic books of Oriental Medicine. Two hundred and seven participants completed the preliminary version of the questionnaire rating the severity of 30 symptoms. Those participants were assessed for Qi stagnation by 2 physicians. Logistic regression analysis was performed between the physicians' assessment of Qi stagnation and the severity of symptoms in the preliminary questionnaire. The final version of the questionnaire was developed with 23 symptoms that had significant odds ratios. The Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.83. The area under the curve was 0.90 and cut-off value for diagnosis of Qi stagnation was 28.5 in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Sensitivity and specificity were 0.83 and 0.80, respectively. The Spearman's correlation coefficient was 0.72 in the test-retest. This questionnaire would enable standardization and objective verification of the diagnosis of Qi stagnation.