Acupuncture: another option in the treatment of moderate/severe depression
The new UK study published in the PLOS Medicine compared acupuncture, counseling and standard pharmacological treatment in patients with moderate to severe depression. In the study, patients were randomly selected to receive either acupuncture or counseling (added to the traditional medication therapy) or the standard therapy alone. At the end of the study, the drop in depression scores was greater in acupuncture and counseling groups than in the group that received standard therapy. Patients who received acupuncture did slightly better than those who received counseling. Additionally, the benefits were maintained for 3 months after the study completion. Would you consider recommending acupuncture for your moderate to severe depression patients? When do you currently recommend your patients to use acupuncture?
Please check PLOS Medicine for additional information.
Efficacy of Acupuncture in The Treatment of Sexual Dysfunction Secondary to Antidepressants
A recent study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine aimed to assess suggested benefit of acupuncture in the treatment of sexual dysfunction linked to SSRI and SNRI – antidepressant use. The study was conducted in Toronto/Canada for 12 consecutive week of acupuncture protocol treatment. Participants have been assessed throughout a weekly questionnaire that looked for symptoms of depression, anxiety and sexual function. The study concluded that integrating medical, complementary and alternative medicine would benefit the patient for both aspects of disease and side effect secondary to the drug being used. How often do you recommend your patients to see an acupuncturist?
Please follow this link for more information:
http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2012.0751
Headaches and Complementary Health Approaches
Many Americans today suffer from pain; one of the most common types of pain is headaches. Different complementary medicines are being studied to treat the different types of headaches. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) evaluated the different studies and its findings. The article suggests acupuncture, relaxation training, biofeedback, tai chi, cognitive-behavioral therapy, riboflavin and coenzyme Q10 are the most useful complementary therapy. What complementary therapies for headaches do you suggest in your practice? For additional information, please visit NCCAM. “Image courtesy of [Dusky]/Freedigitalphotos.net”
Acupuncture may help with chronic pain
A new systematic review published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, analyzed data from close to 18,000 patients with various types of chronic pain. Researchers found that patients who had undergone acupuncture were in less pain than those who had”sham” acupuncture treatment (a control method for acupuncture in which needles were improperly placed) or did not get any treatment at all. Many conventional clinicians are skeptical about acupuncture treatments believing it is simply a placebo effect. Based on the results of this meta-analysis, the difference between true acupuncture and sham technique is relatively modest, but statistically significant. What are your thoughts on acupuncture? Have you found any other modalities that help your patients with chronic pain?
For more information, visit Archives of Internal Medicine.
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