"Meridian-sinew Acupuncture Method"Improves Deformity Joint Dysfunction in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Joint deformity and dysfunction are common and serious complications in the late stage of rheumatoid arthritis,which seriously affect the quality of life of patients.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)believes that joint deformity and dysfunction in some patients with rheumatoid arthritis are closely related to the apraxia of meridians and tendons due to enduring illness.Based on the theory of meridians and tendons circulation,using the local and nearby therapeutic effect of acupoints as the treatment method in clinical practice,we conducted penetration needling of Houxi,Baxie,Wailaogong as well as Ashi points of interphalangeal joints of both hands through bilateral Sanjian,and used the uniform reinforcing-reducing method to soothe tendons and meridians,thus effectively improving the dysfunction of deformed joints.

Exploring the mechanism of Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture method for ischemicstroke based on EEG dynamic changes: a study protocol of an exploratory,prospective,interventional trial

Background: The Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture method, founded by Academician ShiXuemin, has outstanding efficacy in the treatment of ischemic stroke and has been widelyused at home and abroad. However, after half a century of animal experiments and clinicalstudies, clearly and intuitively revealing its therapeutic mechanism is still a great challengefor researchers. Therefore, this experiment is based on the combination of medicine andengineering to study the immediate effects of the acupuncture method in treating patientsby recording the electroencephalography (EEG) activities of subjects during the acupunctureprocess and to further reveal the therapeutic mechanism at the brain level. Methods: Thistrial is an exploratory, prospective, single-arm interventional study involving a total ofpatients with ischemic stroke. Physicians will record EEG data from patients duringacupuncture as the primary outcome indicator. After pre-processing the EEG data,researchers will use various methods to analyze the immediate effects of acupuncture toobtain brain effectiveness. Deep learning will then be used to identify acupoint stimuli andreceive correspondence between the acupuncture effect and the brain’s internal state.National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score before and after the acupuncture process willbe used as the secondary outcome indicator. Conclusion: This is the first study protocol toapply dynamic changes in EEG to explore a range of mechanisms of action of acupuncture inthe treatment of ischemic stroke. We propose a method to analyze EEG signals ofacupuncture patients. The deep learning model will be applied for supervised training toobtain the compelling relationship between the acupuncture method and internal brainstates, providing a new prospect for the digitization of traditional Chinese medicine.

Acupuncture method of“Huoxue Sanfeng,Shugan Jianpi ” for morning blood pressure in patients with cerebral infarction combined with essential hypertension: a randomized controlled trial

Objective To observe the clinical effects of acupuncture method of'Huoxue Sanfeng,Shugan Jianpi'(activating blood and eliminating wind,soothing liver and strengthening spleen)on morning blood pressure in patients with cerebral infarction combined with essential hypertension.Methods Sixty-eight patients were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group,34 cases in each one.The patients in the

Mechanism of"Five Meridians Acupuncture"in Treating Postoperative Urinary Retention after Anorectal Diseases

In recent years,with the change of rhythm and eating habits of the public,the number of patients with anorectal diseases has gradually increased,and postoperative urinary retention has also become more common.Urinary retention refers to the symptoms of anorectal diseases and is caused by improper urination and incompletion of urination due to surgical and pain causes that result in bladder and urine filling and are accompanied by lower abdominal distention and pain.In traditional Chinese medicine,acupuncture is simple and effective as a treatment.In this article,we focus on five meridians that pass through the lower abdomen Ren meridian,kidney meridian,spleen meridian,stomach meridian,and liver meridian,namely the"five meridians,"and study the mechanism of action so as to provide new therapeutic ideas for clinical acupuncture treatment of postoperative urinary retention of anorectal diseases.

Modulation of electroencephalograph activity by manual acupuncture stimulation in healthy subjects:An autoregressive spectral analysis

To investigate whether and how manual acupuncture（MA） modulates brain activities,we design an experiment where acupuncture at acupoint ST36 of the right leg is used to obtain electroencephalograph（EEG） signals in healthy subjects.We adopt the autoregressive（AR） Burg method to estimate the power spectrum of EEG signals and analyze the relative powers in delta（0 Hz-4 Hz）,theta（4 Hz-8 Hz）,alpha（8 Hz-13 Hz）,and beta（13 Hz-30 Hz） bands.Our results show that MA at ST36 can significantly increase the EEG slow wave relative power（delta band） and reduce the fast wave relative powers（alpha and beta bands）,while there are no statistical differences in theta band relative power between different acupuncture states.In order to quantify the ratio of slow to fast wave EEG activity,we compute the power ratio index.It is found that the MA can significantly increase the power ratio index,especially in frontal and central lobes.All the results highlight the modulation of brain activities with MA and may provide potential help for the clinical use of acupuncture.The proposed quantitative method of acupuncture signals may be further used to make MA more standardized.

Acupuncture with twirling reducing method for tinnitus of excessive liver-fire type: a clinical observation

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture with twirling reducing method for tinnitus of excessive liver-fire type.Methods One hundred and one patients with tinnitus of excessive liver-fire type were randomly divided into a twirling reducing method group(35 cases),a needle retaining group(33 cases)and

Nitric Oxide Signaling Molecules in Acupoints:Toward Mechanisms of Acupuncture

Recent clinical trial studies have demonstrated that the effects of acupuncture on pain improvement are small and no difference between acupoints and non-points. Whether acupuncture needles must be inserted in specific points depends on whether acupoint specificity exists that is still not resolved, and is now urgent. Previous anatomical studies have demonstrated that acupoints exist higher number of nerve fibers/trunks, blood vessels, hair follicles, and sweat glands as well as density of the gap junction. Recent evidence shows that nitric oxide（NO） level is elevated in the acupoints/meridians and is associated with an enhanced expression of NO synthase endowed with transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1. There is growing evidence from international groups showing that acupuncture induces NO-mediated vasodilatation, which increases local blood flow and allows for a flush of algesic or sensitizing substances, leading to pain relief. Previous studies, using a novel biocapture system, have demonstrated that NOx–（total nitrite and nitrate） and cyclic guanosine monophosphate（c GMP） concentrations are consistently increased over skin acupoints compared to non-meridian control regions（NMCR） in humans. Dermal microdialysis in humans showed that NO-c GMP releases in the subcutaneous tissue of acupoint are higher than those in NMCR and increased by electroacupuncture（EA）. Recent studies have demonstrated that low-frequency electrical stimulation and manual acupuncture with low stimulating force and rate produce an elevation of NO release predominantly over acupoints. In contrast, NO levels over the areas of the skin regions are moderately reduced by high-frequency EA stimulation. The results from anatomical and biochemical studies consistently show that acupoints exist higher levels of NO signaling molecules, and stimulus-evoked NO release is also with a higher level at acupoints. Results suggest that NO signaling molecules contribute to the specificity of acupoints, and selecting well-trained acupuncturetists for using correct acupoints and appropriate parameters should improve acupuncture clinical trial studies.