Acupuncture News and Research

Latest Acupuncture News and Research

Middle-age people more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine

"Midlife adults entered adulthood at a time of more widespread use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the population and when public health policy was shifting attention toward individual responsibility for health and health promotion," said Joseph G. Grzywacz, Ph.D., and his colleagues, writing in the October issue of the Journal of Aging and Health.

25 Oct 2005

Complementary medicine represents an additional cost to usual care with questionable clinical benefit

The cost-effectiveness of using complementary treatments in the United Kingdom has been the subject of much speculation and controversy.

13 Oct 2005

Canadian adolescents and complementary or alternative medical treatment

While the study does not look at the effectiveness of these treatments, "what's concerning is that young people across the country have different levels of access to alternative therapies as publicly-funded services," says Dr. McColl. "There are noticeable differences in access and utilization based on education, income and geographic location."

13 Oct 2005

Alternative ways to manage chronic pain

Yoga, massage or plain old exercise? It could be just what the doctor ordered to minimize pain from chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, neck pain, low back pain or fibromyalgia, according to the September issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource.

28 Sep 2005

Acupuncture relieves symptoms of fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia patients treated with six sessions of acupuncture experienced significant symptomatic improvement compared to a group given simulated acupuncture sessions according to a new Mayo Clinic study.

25 Aug 2005

Acupuncture may help some men overcome infertility

Researchers found five weeks of acupuncture treatment reduced the number of structural abnormalities in sperm and increased the overall number of normal sperm in a group of men with infertility problems.

11 Aug 2005

Acupuncture is an effective treatment for tension headache

And a minimal acupuncture course works almost as well as traditional Chinese therapy, say the researchers.

28 Jul 2005

Acupuncture no help for fibromyalgia sufferers

Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes pain and tenderness in the head, shoulders, upper back, thighs, and abdomen and sufferers also often have headaches, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep problems.

7 Jul 2005

Impact of acupuncture goes beyond the acknowledged placebo effect

Researchers at the University of Southampton and University College London have shown for the first time that the impact of acupuncture goes beyond the acknowledged placebo effect caused by the patient's own expectation of feeling benefit from the treatment.

4 May 2005

Acupuncture treatment no more effective than sham treatment in reducing migraine headaches

Migraine patients who received true acupuncture had no decrease in headaches as compared with those who received sham acupuncture treatment, according to a study in the May 4 issue of JAMA.

3 May 2005

Alarms better than medication for stopping bedwetting

Alarms that buzz, ring or light up when a child wets the bed are more effective at stopping bedwetting than medications like the drug commonly used to prevent urination, according to a new review of recent studies.

2 May 2005

Three out of every four adults over age 50 use some kind of alternative medicine

This study found that 71 percent of older adults used some form of alternative medicine in 2000. A study done in 2002, found a lower rate -- about 62 percent – among all adults.

10 Apr 2005

Pediatric use of complementary and alternative medicine

Insured pediatric and adolescent patients account for only a small part of total insurance expenditures for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) but are more likely to use these therapies if their adult family members also use CAM professionals, according to an article in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

4 Apr 2005

Electroacupuncture can lower blood pressure

Dr. John C. Longhurst, director of the Susan Samueli Centre for Integrative Medicine at UC Irvine ,and researchers, have found that acupuncture using low levels of electrical stimulation can lower elevations in blood pressure by as much as 50 percent.

30 Mar 2005

Acupuncture treatments using low levels of electrical stimulation can lower blood pressure

Acupuncture treatments using low levels of electrical stimulation can lower elevations in blood pressure by as much as 50 percent, researchers at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at UC Irvine have found.

28 Mar 2005

Depression appears to be a major cause of insomnia in people with HIV

Patients in the last stages of HIV infection with full-blown AIDS and those who have suffered some kind of brain impairment as a result of the disease are also more likely to suffer from insomnia, the reviewers conclude in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

22 Mar 2005

Acupuncture and strengthening exercises help relieve pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy

Researchers in Sweden identified 386 pregnant women with pelvic girdle pain. Women were randomly divided into three groups; one received standard treatment (a pelvic belt and a home exercise programme), another received standard treatment plus acupuncture, and the third received standard treatment plus stabilising exercises to improve mobility and strength.

21 Mar 2005

Acupuncture to reduce back pain in pregnancy

A Yale researcher and expert in the practice of acupuncture is conducting a three-year study on the effectiveness of this ancient Chinese practice in reducing low back pain during pregnancy.

3 Feb 2005

Alternative therapies and conventional medical therapies should be held to same standards

Stating that health care should strive to be both comprehensive and evidence-based, a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies calls for conventional medical treatments and complementary and alternative treatments to be held to the same standards for demonstrating clinical effectiveness.

13 Jan 2005

Steady points to need for more rigorous evaluation of complementary & alternative medicine use

In a comparison of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by adults in 1997 and 2002, researchers from Harvard Medical School found more than one in three U.S. adults (36.5 and 35.0 percent, respectively) used at least one form of CAM.

12 Jan 2005