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Research Archive

Welcome to our Chinese medicine and acupuncture research news pages. We add to the content of these pages continuously as more research news comes in. Browse through the complete archive below or use the category links on the right.

Please note that the most twenty recent research archive items are free to view but access to the thousands of items in the archive require a journal subscription.

Xiao Yao Wan and Depression

Categories: Psychological / emotional

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised controlled trial, the efficacy of i. Carbamazepine (CBZ), ii, CBZ plus the Chinese herbal medicine Free and Easy Wanderer (FEWP/Xiao Yao Wan), and iii. Placebo, was compared in the treatment of 124 bipolar depressed and 111 manic patients over a twelve week period. CBZ plus FEWP produced significantly better outcomes on three measures of depression ...

Laser acupuncture and depression

Categories: Psychological / emotional

In a double-blind randomised controlled trial, active laser acupuncture was found to be significantly more effective for the treatment of mild to moderate depression (at twelve weeks from trial onset) compared to sham laser acupuncture. In this trial, the practitioner did not know during treatment whether the laser device was active or not and was asked not to communicate with the patient other th ...

Acupuncture & Depression

Categories: Psychological / emotional

Previous studies have shown acupuncture at depression specific points to be superior to acupuncture at points not specific to depression (see NEWS 78 and 59). In a recent study, however, it appears that the non specific acupuncture was superior to the specific acupuncture. Study participants (151) were randomised to receive depression specific acupuncture, non-specific acupuncture or no treatment ...

Acupressure decreases dementia agitation

Categories: Psychological / emotional

A pilot study has suggests that acupressure can decrease the agitated behaviour associated with dementia. Thirty-one subjects with dementia were assigned to a six-week acupressure treatment programme consisting of five minutes treatment, twice a day, five days a week, for four weeks. After a treatment-free period of one week, all the subjects then served as controls, undergoing a four-week protoco ...

Acupuncture reduces anxiety of eye surgery

Categories: Psychological / emotional, Eye disorders

An Italian study has found that patients undergoing cataract removal are less anxious after receiving acupuncture. Participants underwent phacoemulsification, in which the cloudy eye lens is emulsified with an ultrasound probe, before being aspirated and replaced by an artificial lens. The procedure is carried out under topical anaesthesia while the patient is awake and can therefore provoke signi ...

Acupuncture for post-traumatic stress

Categories: Psychological / emotional

A pilot study has evaluated the efficacy of acupuncture for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants diagnosed with PTSD were randomised to either an empirically developed acupuncture treatment, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), or a wait-list control. The primary outcome measure was self-reported PTSD symptoms, assessed at baseline, end of treatment and at three-month follow-up. Acu ...

Acupuncture for anxiety

Categories: Psychological / emotional

A systematic review of the evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of anxiety disorders has shown positive findings. Authors based at London's University of Westminster performed searches of the major biomedical databases as well as specialist CAM databases. Twelve controlled trials were located, of which ten were randomised controlled trials (RCTs). All trials reported positive ...

Acupuncture effective for depression

Categories: Psychological / emotional

Chinese researchers have carried out a meta-analysis to assess the benefits of acupuncture as a treatment for depression. The analysis included eight small randomised controlled trials involving a total of 477 subjects. Their results suggested that acupuncture was an effective treatment for depression and could significantly reduce the severity of the disease. (Is acupuncture beneficial in depress ...

QIGONG FOR STRESS

Categories: Psychological / emotional

A small American study has investigated the effectiveness of a qigong training program in reducing stress in hospital staff. Thirty-seven subjects were randomly assigned to a six-week intervention of either qigong practice or a waiting list. The qigong group demonstrated a statistically significant reduction of perceived stress compared to the control group and also experienced a significant reduc ...