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Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine... Jun 2024To assess the efficacy and safety of Neiguan (PC6) acupoint acustimulation in preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), especially for patients with...
Neiguan (PC6) acupoint stimulation for preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting: a cost-effective supplement in guideline-inconsistent chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting prophylaxis subgroup.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the efficacy and safety of Neiguan (PC6) acupoint acustimulation in preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), especially for patients with guideline-inconsistent CINV prophylaxis (GICP) due to personal reasons METHODS: From January 2021 to December 2021, 373 patients suffered from solid malignancy were recruited according to the inclusion criteria. Complete response (no emesis and no rescue medication use) rate during the overall phase (0-120 h of each chemo-cycle) was the primary assessment of CINV control. The Functional Living Index-Emesis (FLIE) questionnaire was investigated among these patients as a secondary 'quality of life' objective to assess the impact of CINV on patients' daily life by recording score of nausea and vomiting.
RESULTS
With acustimulation of Neiguan (PC6) acupuncture point through a portable, noninvasive and user-friendly device, in terms of complete response rate and scores in nausea/vomiting by FLIE questionnaire, patients achieve a better outcome in highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC) induced CINV, especially GICP subgroup. Meanwhile, analysis also demonstrated this tendency existed in other patients with HEC/GCCP (guideline consistent CINV prophylaxis) and moderate emetogenic chemotherapy, although the difference was not significant.
CONCLUSION
Considering advantages of Neiguan (PC6) acustimulation such as noninvasive, covered by medical insurance and few side effects, we believe it would be an ideal auxiliary tool in CINV control, especially in patients who receive highly emetogenic chemo-protocol and are reluctant to GCCP for economic reasons.
Topics: Humans; Acupuncture Points; Vomiting; Nausea; Male; Female; Middle Aged; Adult; Antineoplastic Agents; Acupuncture Therapy; Aged; Quality of Life; Neoplasms; Cost-Benefit Analysis
PubMed: 38767643
DOI: 10.19852/j.cnki.jtcm.20240402.005 -
Frontiers in Neuroscience 2024is an important prerequisite for acupuncture to achieve optimal efficacy. Chinese medicine has long been concerned with the relationship between and the clinical... (Review)
Review
is an important prerequisite for acupuncture to achieve optimal efficacy. Chinese medicine has long been concerned with the relationship between and the clinical efficacy of acupuncture. However, the underlying mechanisms of are complex and there is a lack of systematic summaries of objective quantitative studies of . Acupuncture can achieve the purpose of treating diseases by regulating the interaction of local and neighboring acupoints, brain centers, and target organs. At local and neighboring acupoints, can change their tissue structure, temperature, blood perfusion, energy metabolism, and electrophysiological indicators. At the central brain level, can activate the brain regions of the thalamus, parahippocampal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, insular, middle temporal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, etc. It also has extensive effects on the limbic-paralimbic-neocortical-network and default mode network. The brain mechanisms of vary depending on the acupuncture techniques and points chosen. In addition, 's mechanism of action involves correcting abnormalities in target organs. The mechanisms of acupuncture are multi-targeted and multi-layered. The biological mechanisms of Deqi are closely related to brain centers. This study will help to explore the mechanism of from a local-central-target-organ perspective and provide information for future clinical decision-making.
PubMed: 38765671
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1386108 -
Alternative Therapies in Health and... May 2024Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an adult neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness and eventual paralysis, for which there is...
BACKGROUND
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an adult neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness and eventual paralysis, for which there is currently no curative treatment. Mainstream medical interventions primarily focus on providing supportive care. However, acupuncture offers promising avenues for alleviating symptoms and enhancing quality of life. Specific acupuncture points are targeted to address bulbar paralysis as well as paralysis affecting the upper and lower extremities.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the efficacy of electroacupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine in delaying disease progression and alleviating symptoms of bulbar paralysis in patients with ALS.
CASE PRESENTATION
A 51-year-old male presented with a 4-year and 8-month history of weakness in his left arm and both legs, accompanied by muscle cramps and diminished coordination, which had rapidly worsened over the past year. ALS was diagnosed, and the patient was initiated on oral Riluzole (50 mg) and Qidong Huoluo granule, a Chinese herbal compound, administered twice daily. Concurrently, he underwent acupuncture treatment sessions twice weekly for over 8 months.
RESULTS
Following acupuncture therapy, the patient experienced gradual stabilization of symptoms, notably improvement in swallowing function. The combination of electroacupuncture and Qidong Huoluo granule resulted in sustained clinical enhancements post-treatment, including improvements in speech, coughing, articulation, and breathing.
CONCLUSION
Electroacupuncture therapy demonstrates the potential to slow disease progression and ameliorate symptoms of bulbar paralysis in ALS patients. However, further robust clinical research is imperative to explain the precise therapeutic role of electroacupuncture in managing this debilitating condition. Continued investigation into the efficacy and safety profile of electroacupuncture holds promise for advancing treatment modalities for ALS.
PubMed: 38758158
DOI: No ID Found -
Allergologie Select 2024None.
None.
PubMed: 38756207
DOI: 10.5414/ALX02444E -
Molecular Brain May 2024This study aimed to unveil the central mechanism of moxibustion treating chronic inflammatory visceral pain (CIVP) from the angle of circRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks in the...
This study aimed to unveil the central mechanism of moxibustion treating chronic inflammatory visceral pain (CIVP) from the angle of circRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks in the spinal cord. The rat CIVP model was established using a mixture of 5% (w/v) 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid and 50% ethanol at a volume ratio of 2:1 via enema. Rats in the moxibustion group received herb-partitioned moxibustion at Tianshu (ST25, bilateral) and Qihai (CV6) points. The abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR), mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT), and thermal withdrawal latency (TWL) were adopted for pain behavior observation and pain sensitivity assessment. The circRNA, miRNA, and mRNA expression profiles were detected using the high-throughput sequencing technique. Relevant databases and bioinformatics analysis methods were used to screen for differentially expressed (DE) RNAs and build a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA (competing endogenous RNA) ceRNA regulatory network. The real-time quantitative PCR was employed to verify the sequencing result. CIVP rat models had a significantly higher AWR and lower TWL and MWT than normal rats. Between normal and model rats, there were 103 DE-circRNAs, 16 DE-miRNAs, and 397 DE-mRNAs in the spinal cord. Compared with the model group, the moxibustion group had a lower AWR and higher TWL and MWT; between these two groups, there were 118 DE-circRNAs, 15 DE-miRNAs, and 804 DE-mRNAs in the spinal cord. Two ceRNA networks were chosen to be verified. As a result, moxibustion's analgesic effect on visceral pain in CIVP rats may be associated with regulating the circRNA_02767/rno-miR-483-3p/Gfap network in the spinal cord and improving central sensitization.
Topics: Animals; Moxibustion; MicroRNAs; RNA, Circular; RNA, Messenger; Spinal Cord; Gene Regulatory Networks; Visceral Pain; Male; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Inflammation; Chronic Pain; Rats; Gene Expression Regulation
PubMed: 38750560
DOI: 10.1186/s13041-024-01093-7 -
JAMA Network Open May 2024Patients with head and neck cancer who undergo radiotherapy can develop chronic radiation-induced xerostomia. Prior acupuncture studies were single center and rated as... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
IMPORTANCE
Patients with head and neck cancer who undergo radiotherapy can develop chronic radiation-induced xerostomia. Prior acupuncture studies were single center and rated as having high risk of bias, making it difficult to know the benefits of acupuncture for treating radiation-induced xerostomia.
OBJECTIVE
To compare true acupuncture (TA), sham acupuncture (SA), and standard oral hygiene (SOH) for treating radiation-induced xerostomia.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
A randomized, blinded, 3-arm, placebo-controlled trial was conducted between July 29, 2013, and June 9, 2021. Data analysis was performed from March 9, 2022, through May 17, 2023. Patients reporting grade 2 or 3 radiation-induced xerostomia 12 months or more postradiotherapy for head and neck cancer were recruited from community-based cancer centers across the US that were part of the Wake Forest National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program Research Base. Participants had received bilateral radiotherapy with no history of xerostomia.
INTERVENTIONS
Participants received SOH and were randomized to TA, SA, or SOH only. Participants in the TA and SA cohorts were treated 2 times per week for 4 weeks. Those experiencing a minor response received another 4 weeks of treatment.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Patient-reported outcomes for xerostomia (Xerostomia Questionnaire, primary outcome) and quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General) were collected at baseline, 4 (primary time point), 8, 12, and 26 weeks. All analyses were intention to treat.
RESULTS
A total of 258 patients (201 men [77.9%]; mean [SD] age, 65.0 [9.16] years), participated from 33 sites across 13 states. Overall, 86 patients were assigned to each study arm. Mean (SD) years from diagnosis was 4.21 (3.74) years, 67.1% (n = 173) had stage IV disease. At week 4, Xerostomia Questionnaire scores revealed significant between-group differences, with lower Xerostomia Questionnaire scores with TA vs SOH (TA: 50.6; SOH: 57.3; difference, -6.67; 95% CI, -11.08 to -2.27; P = .003), and differences between TA and SA (TA: 50.6; SA: 55.0; difference, -4.41; 95% CI, -8.62 to -0.19; P = .04) yet did not reach statistical significance after adjustment for multiple comparisons. There was no significant difference between SA and SOH. Group differences in Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General scores revealed statistically significant group differences at week 4, with higher scores with TA vs SOH (TA: 101.6; SOH: 97.7; difference, 3.91; 95% CI, 1.43-6.38; P = .002) and at week 12, with higher scores with TA vs SA (TA: 102.1; SA: 98.4; difference, 3.64; 95% CI, 1.10-6.18; P = .005) and TA vs SOH (TA: 102.1; SOH: 97.4; difference, 4.61; 95% CI, 1.99-7.23; P = .001).
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
The findings of this trial suggest that TA was more effective in treating chronic radiation-induced xerostomia 1 or more years after the end of radiotherapy than SA or SOH.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02589938.
Topics: Humans; Xerostomia; Male; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Female; Middle Aged; Aged; Acupuncture Therapy; Radiation Injuries; Quality of Life; Treatment Outcome; Radiotherapy
PubMed: 38739392
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.10421 -
Scientific Data May 2024Prolonged and over-excessive interaction with cyberspace poses a threat to people's health and leads to the occurrence of Cyber-Syndrome, which covers not only...
Prolonged and over-excessive interaction with cyberspace poses a threat to people's health and leads to the occurrence of Cyber-Syndrome, which covers not only physiological but also psychological disorders. This paper aims to create a tree-shaped gold-standard corpus that annotates the Cyber-Syndrome, clinical manifestations, and acupoints that can alleviate their symptoms or signs, designating this corpus as CS-A. In the CS-A corpus, this paper defines six entities and relations subject to annotation. There are 448 texts to annotate in total manually. After three rounds of updating the annotation guidelines, the inter-annotator agreement (IAA) improved significantly, resulting in a higher IAA score of 86.05%. The purpose of constructing CS-A corpus is to increase the popularity of Cyber-Syndrome and draw attention to its subtle impact on people's health. Meanwhile, annotated corpus promotes the development of natural language processing technology. Some model experiments can be implemented based on this corpus, such as optimizing and improving models for discontinuous entity recognition, nested entity recognition, etc. The CS-A corpus has been uploaded to figshare.
Topics: Humans; Acupuncture Points; Natural Language Processing; Computers; Internet
PubMed: 38730023
DOI: 10.1038/s41597-024-03321-0 -
Heliyon May 2024Evidence-based scientific studies focusing on complementary alternative medicine (CAM) and potential functional improvement after an insult of the central nervous system... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Evidence-based scientific studies focusing on complementary alternative medicine (CAM) and potential functional improvement after an insult of the central nervous system are lacking.
AIMS
We aim to demonstrate that functional recovery after stimulation applied as a CAM treatment through cauterization might trigger neural repair and regenerative paths similarly as acupuncture, cupping, electrical or magnetic stimulations. Those paths are important in recovery of function.
PROCEDURES
Medical records and information of ten patients, with initial presentations of cerebral trauma or spinal cord insult inducing paralysis, were studied. Patients ages ranged from 17 to 95-year-old. Patients consulted for alternative medical treatment one year or more after initial diagnosis.CAM treatment consisted in 10-point stimulation on the skull and 4-point stimulation located at the right and left calves and forearms. Stimulations consisted of a heated steel rod application (cautery) in a one-time session. The duration of each stimulation was about 0.5 s.
RESULTS
Most studies using CAM stimulations (acupuncture, cautery, cupping, moxibustion, electrical and magnetic stimulations) describe improvement. In all 10 medical records and information from our practitioner, patients had improvement in their motor skills, including gain of weight support, unassisted small walks, independent and voluntary movements of limbs. Improvement was steady over a period of one to several years.
CONCLUSION
We compared our findings to acupuncture, electrical, magnetic field effects to highlight common paths and to provide scientific evidence for recovery of the function. We believe that CAM treatments triggered existing or new neuronal networks as well as synaptic efficiency or reactivation, through highly increased, sensory nociceptive coupled to proprioceptive, afferences. Those results also highlight the need to further investigate neural function of cortical and subcortical areas through indirect pathways stimulations.
PubMed: 38726182
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30010 -
Heliyon May 2024Medication overuse headache (MOH) is a secondary headache disorder that leads to pronounced disability and decreased quality of life. Available therapeutic options for...
BACKGROUND
Medication overuse headache (MOH) is a secondary headache disorder that leads to pronounced disability and decreased quality of life. Available therapeutic options for MOH are limited, and many are only effective in a subset of individuals. Although the existing evidence is limited, acupuncture may be an effective treatment option for MOH.
CASE PRESENTATION
A 45-year-old Chinese woman presented to the Medical Acupuncture Department of Sanming Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital on April 11, 2022. Thirty-five years ago, she had episodic migraines. The frequency increased over time, however, and for the past 10 years she has had daily headaches. These headaches were characterized by daily persistent throbbing pain on the left side of the patient's head, accompanied by photophobia, phonophobia, neck stiffness, dizziness, and fatigue. Without painkillers, the patient rated her headache intensity as 9 out of 10 on a visual analog scale (0 = no pain, 10 = intolerable pain), and reported that the headaches lasted for up to 7 days or more. With painkillers, the headaches had a reduced intensity (5 of 10), but persisted. The patient had taken 1-3.5 compound aminopyrine phenacetin tablets daily for more than 5 years. Standard conservative therapy (patient education, medication withdrawal, and behavioral intervention) for MOH had failed to improve her symptoms. Before her visit, the patient had headache and engaged in short-term medication use on 30 days per month. The total monthly headache intensity score was 90. The patient's Migraine-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MSQ) score was 33 points, her Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) score was 24 points, and her Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) score was 20 points.
RESULTS
After 48 acupuncture sessions over 24 weeks, the patient completely discontinued short-term analgesic use and the monthly number of headache days and headache intensity score were both reduced by 96.67 % (from 30 to 1 and 90 to 3, respectively), with no adverse effect. Compared with baseline, the MSQ, HAMD, and HAMA scores improved by 45, 17, and 16 points, respectively. At 12 months, the patient's condition remained stable and her MOH had not relapsed.
CONCLUSION
In the context of the current literature and the present case, electroacupuncture shows promise for the long-term relief of chronic migraine with MOH when other treatments fail.
PubMed: 38720738
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30417 -
Journal of Medical Internet Research May 2024International health policies and researchers have emphasized the value of evaluating patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical studies. However, the characteristics...
BACKGROUND
International health policies and researchers have emphasized the value of evaluating patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical studies. However, the characteristics of PROs in adult tumor clinical trials in China remain insufficiently elucidated.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to assess the application and characteristics of PRO instruments as primary or secondary outcomes in adult randomized clinical trials related to tumors in China.
METHODS
This cross-sectional study identified tumor-focused randomized clinical trials conducted in China between January 1, 2010, and June 30, 2022. The ClinicalTrials.gov database and the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry were selected as the databases. Trials were classified into four groups based on the use of PRO instruments: (1) trials listing PRO instruments as primary outcomes, (2) trials listing PRO instruments as secondary outcomes, (3) trials listing PRO instruments as coprimary outcomes, and (4) trials without any mention of PRO instruments. Pertinent data, including study phase, settings, geographic regions, centers, participant demographics (age and sex), funding sources, intervention types, target diseases, and the names of PRO instruments, were extracted from these trials. The target diseases involved in the trials were grouped according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Manual, 8th Edition.
RESULTS
Among the 6445 trials examined, 2390 (37.08%) incorporated PRO instruments as part of their outcomes. Within this subset, 26.82% (641/2390) listed PRO instruments as primary outcomes, 52.72% (1260/2390) as secondary outcomes, and 20.46% (489/2390) as coprimary outcomes. Among the 2,155,306 participants included in these trials, PRO instruments were used to collect data from 613,648 (28.47%) patients as primary or secondary outcomes and from 74,287 (3.45%) patients as coprimary outcomes. The most common conditions explicitly using specified PRO instruments included thorax tumors (217/1280, 16.95%), breast tumors (176/1280, 13.75%), and lower gastrointestinal tract tumors (173/1280, 13.52%). Frequently used PRO instruments included the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire-30, the visual analog scale, the numeric rating scale, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Symptom Scale, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.
CONCLUSIONS
Over recent years, the incorporation of PROs has demonstrated an upward trajectory in adult randomized clinical trials on tumors in China. Nonetheless, the infrequent measurement of the patient's voice remains noteworthy. Disease-specific PRO instruments should be more effectively incorporated into various tumor disease categories in clinical trials, and there is room for improvement in the inclusion of PRO instruments as clinical trial end points.
Topics: Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; China; Patient Reported Outcome Measures; Neoplasms; Adult; Female; Male; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Middle Aged; Clinical Trials as Topic
PubMed: 38718388
DOI: 10.2196/45719