Insights & Discussion
Acupuncture and moxibustion therapies have shown effectiveness in treating ulcerative colitis according to the summarised-findings of various systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
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.
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Acupuncture and Moxibustion Show Promise for Chronic Renal Insufficiency
2023 Frontiers in Psychiatry Acupuncture and moxibustion in patients with cancer-related insomnia: A systematic review and network meta-analysis Ou Y, Lin D, Ni X, Li S, Wu K, Yuan L, et al.
Systematic Review Acupuncture Cancer-Related Insomnia Moxibustion
Acupuncture and moxibustion emerge as effective and safe interventions for chronic renal insufficiency, with Transcutaneous Electrical Acupuncture Stimulation showing the highest potential for efficacy.
Acupuncture, especially TEAS, is safer and more effective than medication for improving sleep quality in cancer related insomnia
2023 Frontiers in Psychiatry Acupuncture and moxibustion in patients with cancer-related insomnia: A systematic review and network meta-analysis Ou Y, Lin D, Ni X, Li S, Wu K, Yuan L, et al.
Systematic Review Acupuncture Cancer-Related Insomnia Moxibustion
Acupuncture methods like transcutaneous electrical acupuncture stimulation (TEAS) and acupuncture+moxibustion were better for sleep than medication. Acupuncture had fewer side effects than medication with positive impact on canner-related insomnia linked to factors like melatonin regulation. Amongst all treatment types, TEAS was probably the more effective.
Among patients with PCOS, the combined use of acupuncture and moxibustion as a complementary therapy has additional efficacy regarding increased pregnancy and ovulation rates and reduced miscarriage rate.
2022 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Effects of Acupuncture Combined with Moxibustion on Reproductive and Metabolic Outcomes in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Li P, Peng J, Ding Z, Zhou X, Liang R
Systematic Review Acupuncture Moxibustion
The systematic review included 25 RCTs assessing the efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with moxibustion in treating PCOS, and all of them contributed data to the meta-analysis. Evidence of an association between acupuncture and moxibustion therapy and greater increases in the pregnancy rate and ovulation rate and greater reductions in the miscarriage rate and ovarian volume was found. Additionally, patients receiving acupuncture and moxibustion also exhibited greater improvements in some sex hormones (LH level, LH/FSH ratio and total testosterone level) and indicators related to metabolic disorders (fasting insulin level and BMI). Nevertheless, acupoint stimulation therapy had no significant effect on the levels of FSH, DHEAS, or oestradiol.
In this systematic review, the pregnancy rate among patients who received acupuncture combined with moxibustion reached 50.9%. This value represents a substantial increase compared to that of patients who did not receive acupuncture (27.5%), with an RR of 1.81 and a 4.9% additional increase compared with patients receiving acupuncture + active drugs in the PCOSAct trial (46.0%).
Acupuncture combined with moxibustion showed the best outcomes in terms of efficacy and quality of life improvement for adults with irritable bowel syndrome complicated with diarrhea.
2022 Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion in the Treatment of Adult Diarrhea Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Network Meta-analysis Jiang X, Guo X, Zhou J, Ye S
Meta-Analysis Acupuncture Diarrhoea Irritable Bowel Syndrome
The study was conducted by searching major databases, including PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Embase, and database from China, for randomized controlled trials. These trials explored the effects of acupuncture and moxibustion on individuals suffering from irritable bowel syndrome complicated with diarrhea. The selected studies underwent a rigorous bias assessment and their data were analyzed using Stata 16.0 statistical software.
The analysis encompassed 21 studies overall, considering 1626 patients undergoing 8 different therapeutic measures. The study found that treatments such as acupuncture, warming needle moxibustion, and a combination of acupuncture with sandwiched or heat-sensitive moxibustion revealed significantly improved outcomes when compared to the drug pinaverium bromide. On the other hand, pinaverium bromide demonstrated the lowest efficacy and effect on quality of life. The most frequently used acupuncture points were GV20, GV29, ST 25, ST37, ST36, SP6, LR3, and CV12.