Insights & Discussion
Acupuncture has therapeutic potential in management of cancer-related fatigue for cancer survivors.
Given that CRF is a debilitating symptom among cancer survivors that has proven complex to manage, it is important to explore a wide range of treatment options. The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that acupuncture has clinical applications in the management of CRF in conjunction with standard care. Investigating the physiological mechanisms underlying the effects of acupuncture on CRF with biomarkers including cytokines will provide important insights into future clinical applications. Acupuncture for cancer survivors with fatigue, particularly those receiving chemotherapy and radiation therapy that induce fatigue, can have a beneficial effect on fatigue and overall quality of life, when used as an adjunctive intervention to conventional cancer care. Therefore, it is recommended that acupuncture be incorporated into guidelines for the management of CRF in order to improve patient care.
Discover Related Insights
Acupuncture and moxibustion therapies have shown effectiveness in treating ulcerative colitis according to the summarised-findings of various systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
2024 Heliyon Effects of acupuncture and moxibustion on ulcerative colitis: An overview of systematic reviews Wang D, Wang Q, Wang Y, Li T, Tian M
Systematic Review Acupuncture Moxibustion Ulcerative Colitis
Methodology: This evaluative study used an extensive and systematic methods to search data from seven different databases. The selected data were further refined by using different screening and evaluation frameworks like AMSTAR-2, PRISMA, ROBIS, and GRADE systems. These were used to determine the methodological quality, reporting quality, risk of bias, and the quality of evidence in the selected studies.
Discussion of results: After critical evaluation, the study found ten relevant reviews and analyses that showed potential for acupuncture and moxibustion therapies being effective in ulcerative colitis treatment. However, many the identified studies were reported to have several problems in their overall design and quality of outcomes. The researchers therefore stress caution when interpreting these results due to the lack of high-quality evidence in the existing studies.
Diverse acupuncture therapies, especially moxibustion, emerged as superior methods for alleviating ulcerative colitis symptoms in clinical practice.
2024 SSRN Electronic Journal Efficacy and Safety of Different Acupuncture Therapies for Patients with Ulcerative Colitis：A Systematic Review And Network Meta-Analysis Zhang X, Yang S, Jin Y, Cheng X, Lu H, Wu H, et al.
Meta-Analysis Acupuncture Moxibustion Ulcerative Colitis
Methodology: The researchers carried out a systematic review and network meta-analysis of clinical efficacy of various acupuncture therapies for ulcerative colitis patients. They accomplished this by sourcing for Clinical Randomized Controlled trial articles from databases such as PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and other data knowledge service platforms, all of which were independently reviewed by two researchers. Several quality assessments were made through Review Manager software, and the meta-analysis was conducted with Stata 16 software. Interventions examined in the analysis included acupuncture, moxibustion, acupoint catgut embedding, and combinations of these therapies with Western medicine.
Discussion of results: 52 articles encompassing 3924 patients participated in randomized control trials. The investigation revealed a range of interventions, including different acupuncture therapies and combinations of these therapies with Western medicine. Namely, moxibustion, either on its own or combined with Western medicine, consistently surfaced as top-ranked for overall effectiveness and specific outcomes. Moreover, moxibustion displayed impressive performance in reducing adverse reactions and recurrence rates. Thus, various acupuncture therapies were confirmed as safe and effective for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, with moxibustion emerging as the most effective.
Acupuncture may enhance the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for people suffering from insomnia and related conditions.
2023 Sleep Medicine Clinics Acupuncture as an Adjunct Treatment to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Kutana S, Mao JJ, Garland SN
Theoretical Article Acupuncture Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Insomnia
The research methodology used in this paper is mainly a theoretical analysis and discussion of the potential synergistic effects of combining cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and acupuncture. This involves analysis of the current evidence base for the efficacy of acupuncture in treating insomnia and related conditions, along with examination of the practical, logistical, and regulatory aspects of combining these two treatments.
In the discussion of their results, the researchers found that there is a growing body of evidence that supports the potential benefit of acupuncture in treating insomnia and its comorbidities, enhancing the current standard treatment approach of CBT-I. This appears to be an innovative approach that could potentially enhance the treatment effectiveness and outcomes for those struggling with insomnia, though it concurrently raises complex issues in terms of its practical and regulatory implementation.
Acupuncture, either alone or as an adjunct, improved the clinical efficacy and visual acuity of age-related macular degeneration patients, particularly those with dry AMD.
2023 PLOS One Effects of acupuncture on age-related macular degeneration: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials Sun W, Zhao Y, Liao L, Wang X, Wei Q, Chao G, et al.
Meta-Analysis Acupuncture Age-Related Macular Degeneration
The study conducted a meta-analysis on nine out of 226 articles selected from various databases such as PubMed, Ovid Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, The Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, VIP, Wanfang, and SINOMED up until September 4, 2022. Two separate reviewers independently carried out the literature screening and data extraction and used RevMan 5.4 software for the meta-analysis.
In the discussion of the results, it was found that 508 AMD patients (representing a total of 631 eyes), including 360 dry eyes and 271 wet eyes, showed improvement in both clinical efficacy and best-corrected visual acuity after receiving acupuncture treatment. The treatment also led to a reduction in their central macular thickness. However, while the benefits of acupuncture were seen, the quality of evidence supporting these outcomes was judged as ranging from "low" to "very low".
Acupuncture can enhance visual function in people with myopia via particular changes in brain activity.
2023 Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience The effect of acupuncture at the Taiyang acupoint on visual function and EEG microstates in myopia Su K, Wang L, Wang Z, Ma J, Zhang C, Bi H, et al.
Experimental Study Acupuncture Myopia
In this study, a group of 21 myopic patients received acupuncture at a specific acupoint. To assess the impact of this treatment on their vision, a technique known as contrast sensitivity (CS) was used to analyse vision quality before and after the acupuncture process. At the same time, electroencephalography (EEG) was employed to record changes in brain activity throughout the procedure.
It was observed post-acupuncture that patients' contrast sensitivity was generally better, implying improved visual abilities. Moreover, EEG data divulged certain changes in brain states labelled as 'microstates', particularly a decrease in the contribution of 'microstate C' and a lower transition probability between 'microstate A' and 'microstate C'. Furthermore, analysis showed a negative correlation between the contribution of 'microstate C' and contrast sensitivity. These findings suggest a connection between the enhancement of visual function and specific neurophysiological processes.
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