News of Interest

Acupuncture Diminishes Acute Postop Pain - An analysis of several large research studies found that acupuncture, a traditional form of Chinese medicine, effectively eases postoperative pain without serious side effects. Currently up to 80 percent of patients experience pain after surgery, with about 86 percent of these patients reporting moderate, severe or extreme discomfort. Thus, postoperative pain management remains a significant challenge for health care providers.

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To Your Health

Cancer Patients Want Acupuncture as an Option

For patients with terminal or advanced cancer, there can be a seemingly endless search for options to help relieve pain, either from the cancer itself or from treatment side effects such as nausea and vomiting. A study published in the August 2007 issue of Supportive Care in Cancer found that many of these patients not only have a good understanding of acupuncture, but also would be willing to receive acupuncture treatment if it were offered at their hospice.

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Acupuncture - Treat insomnia depression anxiety with acupuncture - Whilst it is widely known in the western world as an alternative therapy for chronic pain, acupuncture for insomnia depression anxiety is a traditional method for the Chinese. Since acupuncture is an individualised treatment, controlled studies are difficult to execute, but those that have been carried out suggest that acupuncture may, indeed be an effective intervention for the relief of insomnia depression anxiety.

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Acupuncture may be more effective at relieving lower back pain than standard treatments, according to new research in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study involved 1162 patients with an average of 50, who had suffered from lower back pain for an average of eighty years. Over six months, patients underwent 10 half-hour sessions of Chinese "verum" acupuncture (387 patients), sham acupuncture (387 patients) or conventional therapy (388 patients). During verum acupuncture, needles were inserted at fixed points to a depth of 5-40mm, while sham acupuncture consisted of inserting needles superficially, (1-3mm), avoiding all known acupuncture points. Conventional therapy was a combination of medication, physical therapy and exercise. After six months, 47.6 percent of the verum acupuncture group, 44.2 percent of the sham acupuncture group and only 27.4 percent of the conventional therapy group reported a significant improvement in pain levels. Any form of acupuncture may therefore provide effective relief from lower back pain, conclude the authors. Arch Intern Med 2007;167:1892-1898 (Haake M, et al)

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Monkeys at zoo get acupuncture - The North Carolina Zoo is taking a different approach to helping their animals feel well. They're doing that by using acupuncture on two Patas monkeys who suffer from osteoarthritis. This is the first time this type of alternative medicine has been used at the zoo, but veterinarians hope the treatment will be so successful that this won't be the last time.

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Acupuncture Easing Pain of Breast Cancer - A 3,000-year-old Chinese therapy is being used to help women with breast cancer - and it's working so well, some insurance companies are paying for it. New research finds women, who get acupuncture while being treated for breast cancer with chemotherapy or radiation, tend to have less side effects and pain than normal.

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Acupuncture helps relieve back pain for more patients

Fake or not, it works better than Western methods

Chicago - Fake acupuncture works nearly as well as the real thing for low back pain, and either kind performs much better than usual care, German researchers have found.

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To Your Health

Acupuncture May Help Lower Your Blood Pressure

In addition to many other benefits, acupuncture may help lower high blood pressure, according to a new study. Researchers in Germany and China found that among 160 patients with high blood pressure, those who received acupuncture treatment significantly lowered both their systolic and diastolic pressure, compared to those who received sham acupuncture treatments.

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Acupuncture good for hayfever: study - Chinese acupuncture helps clear up runny noses and other hayfever symptoms, a scientific study suggests. Melbourne researchers tested the ancient needle therapy on people with persistent nasal allergies and found it could offer some relief from a runny nose, congestion, sneezing and sinus pressure. The study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, is the first in English literature to analyze the benefits of acupuncture in adults with severe hayfever.

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