Effect of Acupuncture Cooperated with Low-frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Chronic Insomnia： A Randomized Clinical Trial

The effect of acupuncture cooperated with low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation （rTMS） on chronic insomnia was explored. Seventy-eight patients with chronic insomnia were randomly allocated into two groups： treatment group and control group. In the treatment group, the patients received acupuncture combined with rTMS treatment, and those in the control group were given acupuncture cooperated with sham rTMS treatment, 3 days per week for 4 weeks. Before and after treatment, the primary outcomes including the scores on Insomnia Severity Index （ISI） and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index （PSQI） and the secondary outcomes including total sleep time （TST）, sleep onset latency （SOL）, wake after sleep onset （WASO）, sleep efficiency （SE%） recorded by sleeping diary and actigraphy were observed in both groups. Seventy-five participants finished the study （38 in treatment group and 37 in control group respectively）. After treatment, the scores in the two groups were improved significantly, more significantly in the treatment group than in the control group. It can be inferred that acupuncture cooperated with rTMS can effectively improve sleep quality, enhance the quality of life of patients and has less side effects.

Is Acupuncture Effective for Improving Insulin Resistance?A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture for intervening insulin resistance (IR)by meta-analysis of related randomized controlled trials (RCTs).Studies published prior to 31 January 2018 were searched on Pubmed,Medline,Cochrane Library, Embase databases and Chinese databases.Only RCTs,which examined acupuncture as the sole or adjunctive treatment for IR-related diseases,were included.The primary outcome was homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).The secondary outcomes consisted of fasting blood glucose (FBG),fasting insulin (FINS)and 2-h postprandial blood glucose (2h-PBG).The differences between groups were reported as mean differences (MD).All statistical analyses were performed using RevMan software 5.3.After carefully screening relevant studies,9 RCTs involving 562 patients (279 in experimental group and 283 in control group)were enrolled in this study.The pooled results showed that acupuncture had significant effects on HOMA-IR (MD 0.70,95%CI 0.04 to 1.35,P=-0.04<0.05),FINS (MD 3.35mU/L,95%CI 1.99 to 4.7,P<0.001)and 2h-PBG (MD 1.03 mmol/L,95%CI 0.25 to 1.82,P=0.01).However,the differences in FBG were not significant (MD 0.28 mmol/L,95%CI -0.28 to 0.84,P=0.32>0.05).The present meta-analysis indicated that acupuncture can help to improve IR to a certain extent,which remains to be confirmed by further high-quality RCTs.

Triple Puncture for Primary Trigeminal Neuralgia:A Randomized Clinical Trial

To evaluate the effect of triple puncture on primary trigeminal neuralgia (pTN),64 patients with pTN were randomly assigned to two groups:treatment group and control group.The participants in the treatment group received triple puncture treatment of 6 times per week for 4 weeks,and those in control group were given carbamazepine (300-600 mg per day) for at least 1 month.Before and after treatment,the primary outcomes including the total efficiency rate and the VAS pain scores,and the secondary outcomes including the frequency of pain attack and adverse events were observed.Sixty-two participants finished the study (33 in treatment group and 29 in control group individually).After treatment,the symptoms (mainly pain) of the two groups were alleviated.The total efficiency rate in the treatment group and control group was 90.9% and 75.9% respectively.The VAS pain scores and frequency of pain attack were significantly reduced in the treatment group as compared with the control group (P<0.05).The incidence of adverse events in the treatment group and control group was 9.1% and 24.1% respectively.It can be inferred that triple puncture can effectively improve the quality of life of patients with pTN and has less side effects.