Long-term efficacy of point application therapy on different acupoints and durations in the treatment of asthma:a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE:To optimise point application therapy for the treatment of asthma.METHODS:A total of 456 patients with asthma were randomly divided into treatment groups 1,2,and 3,with 152 patients each.The Dazhui(GV14),Feishu(BL13),Xinshu(BL15),Geshu(BL17),Pishu(BL20),Shenshu(BL23),and Guanyuan(CV4)acupoints were selected for treatment groups 1 and 2,with 2 and 4 h of application,respectively.The Feishu(BL13),Xinshu(BL15),and Geshu(BL17)acupoints were selected in group 3,with 2 h of application.All patients underwent application of the“prevention of disease”plaster during the dog days of summer(approximately July and August each year)between 2015 and 2019.RESULTS:The analysis showed that the numbers of asthma attacks and total serum immunoglobulin E(IgE)levels of the three groups after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment.In addition,the reductions in treatment groups 1 and 2 were more significant than those in group 3.The total treatment efficacy rates and post-treatment quality of life scores of the patients in treatment groups 1 and 2 were significantly higher than those in group 3.CONCLUSIONS:Point application therapy can effectively improve the clinical symptoms of patients with asthma,reduce the number of attacks,improve the quality of life,and decrease the total serum IgE level.The choice of acupuncture points,but not the length of the application time,influenced the therapeutic effect of point application therapy in asthma.

Clinical Study on Point Application Using Chinese Herbal Medicine for Pediatric Chronic Cough

Objective： To observe the clinical effect of point application using Chinese herbal medicine for chronic cough in children. Methods： A total of 200 children with chronic cough were randomly allocated into an observation group and a control group, 100 cases in each group. Conventional Western medication was used for cases in the control group, whereas conventional Western medication plus point application using Chinese herbal medicine were used for cases in the observation group. Changes of indexes including eosinophils （EOS）, peak expiratory flow （PEF） and forced expiratory volume in one second （FEV1） were observed before and after treatment. In addition, the clinical effects were compared between the two groups. Results： After treatment, coughs in children were alleviated in both groups; however, it took a shorter period of time for cough alleviation in the observation group than that in the control group （P^0.01）. On the 28th day of treatment, the EOS, PEF and FEVl were improved in both groups （P〈0.01）, and the improvements were more significant in the observation group （P〈0.05）. Additionally, the frequencies of cough variant asthma attacks were decreased in both groups, but a better effect in the observation group than the control group. Conclusion： Complementary point application using Chinese herbal medicine could substantially improve the clinical effect, alleviate coughs and benefit lung functions.