Acupuncture is more effective than oral antidepressants in improving depressive symptoms, and produces fewer side effects than tricyclic antidepressants. Despite the continued development of antidepressants and alternative/synergistic therapies, major depressive disorder has not been comprehensively recognized and treatment outcome is often insufficient. An epidemiological study addressing depression showed that poor recognition and treatment are largely linked to the lack of an accurate assessment tool and to patients' economic situation.
Prof. Yong Huang and team from Southern Medical University in China compared the clinical efficacy of acupuncture/electroacupuncture combined with an antidepressant drug, with that of an antidepressant drug alone, using the Symptom Checklist-90. Researchers found that administration of Seroxat alone or in combination with acupuncture/electroacupuncture can produce a significant effect in patients with primary unipolar depression. Furthermore, acupuncture/electroacupuncture has a rapid onset of therapeutic effect and produces a noticeable improvement in obsessive-compulsive, depressive and anxiety symptoms. These findings have been published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 2, 2014).
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