Editor's Choice—Meta analysis of acupuncture efficacy for the treatment of nervous system diseases

Meta analysis of randomized, controlled, clinical studies of acupuncture for the treatment of nervous system diseases has demonstrated that acupuncture effectively treats optic atrophy and depression. However, the quality of selected studies is low and evidence is inadequate. Therefore,

EFFICACY OF ACUPUNCTURE THERAPY ON A, B AND O BLOOD GROUPS ──Relationship between A, B, O blood groups and the acupuncture therapy

Efficacy of acupuncture therapy varies in patients with similar ailments. The present study was undertaken to search for a marker for better efficacy of acupuncture therapy. The study was made in 224 patients including osteoarthritis 141 (62.94 %), polyarthritis 23 (10.26 %), Bursitis & synovitis 15 (6.69 %) and others 45 (20.08 %). ABO blood groups were tested for each patient. It appears that patients belonging to group AB and B responded well to acupuncture therapy in proportionately more number. Good result was achieved in 47.82 % cases in group AB and 46.04 % cases in group B, whereas patients of group A and O showed good result in 27.65 % and 26.15 % cases respectively. Apparently it may be concluded that patients of AB & B blood groups would respond comparatively well to acupuncture therapy.

EFFECT OF ACUPUNCTURE ON PLASMA GLUCOSE LEVEL IN HUMAN VOLUNTEERS

Objective To observe the changes of plasma glucose level （PGL） in human volunteers after acupuncture. Methods Seventy-seven human volunteers were taken up from the acupuncture clinic. All of them were non-diabetic subjects. Electroacupuncture at acupoints Zhongwan （中脘 CV 12） and Guanyuan （关元 CV 4） was given for 20 minutes. Venous blood was collected before acupuncture and 10 minutes after completion of acupuncture. All cases were at four hours abstinence from food before doing acupuncture. Results Plasma glucose level varied 5 mg% or more in 62 cases （80.51%） and only those were considered for computation. PGL increased in cases who had generally plasma glucose level below 90 mg% before acupuncture; and PGL decreased in cases who had plasma glucose 90 mg% or above. In 10 control cases there was no variation of the considerable level of 5 mg% in any case. Conclusion Bi-directional variation of PGL after acupuncture indicates that acupuncture can be used to maintain optimum PGL through endogenous mechanism, suggesting that it is applicable in controlling hyperglycemia in diabetes rnellitus patients.

Progress of reseach on specificity of meridian acupoint efficacy

The status quo of study on specificity of meridian acupoints is summarized in this article through retrieval of relative literatures published in the recent 10 years in databases such as CNKI and SCI. The result indicates that specificity, which is brought into play through the inner biological mechanism, can be found in meridian acupoint efficacy. However, problems still remain since studies at present are still not systematic, comprehensive and scientific. In the future, relative studies should be carried out on extensive diseases and disease models with modern scientific technologies and equipments, strict as well as scientific experimental designation and evaluation methods.

Clinical observation on therapeutic effect of acupuncture for chronic functional constipation

Methods Two Qihai （气海 CV Objective To discuss the efficacy of acupuncture for groups of points were applied alternatively to 90 cases by chronic functional constipation acupuncture： （1） Tianshhu （CFC）. ST 25）, 6）, Shemgjfuxu （上巨虚 ST 37）, etc. （2）Zhongliao （中髎 BL 33）, Xiadiao （下髎 BL 34）, Dachangshu （大肠俞 BL 25）, etc. Electroacupuncture was applied in combination at Zhongliao （中髎 BL 33）, Xialiao （下髎 BL 34）, Tianshu（天枢 ST 25） and Shamgjuxu （上巨虚 ST 37）, once a day, 10 treatments made one session. By constipation diary of patients, frequency of going to stool, straining severity, time of once bowl evacuation, a sense of incomplete bowel emptying, stool quality, a sense of defecation and the Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life questionnaire （PAC-QOL）, as well as the changes before and after treatment were observed. Results After treatment, the apparent improvements were achieved in frequency of going to stool, straining severity, time of once bowl evacuation, a sense of incomplete bowel emptying, a sense of defecation and score of PAC-QOL as compared with those before treatment （all P〈0.01）. The total effective rate was 67.7% （61/70）. The acupuncture effieacies were various on CFC of different dynamic mechanisms. The efficacy on slow transit constipation （STC） was superior to that caused by spastic pelvic floor syndrome （SPFS-C） （P〈0.05）, the efficacy on constipation caused by irritable bowel syndrome （IBS-C） was superior to that on either SPFS-C or constipation caused by relaxant pelvic floor syndrome （RPFS-C） （both P〈0.05）. Of 52 eases in effective follow-up, 1 month after treatment, 3 eases were cured, 6 eases markedly effective, 23 eases effective, and 20 cases failed; 3 months after treatment, 3 eases were cured, 5 eases markedly effective, 16 cases effective and 28 cases failed. Conclusion Acupuncture has definite efficacy on CFC with definite etiology, loci and diagnostic classification. But, the efficacies are different due to various dynamic mechanisms. A further optimized treatment program is required to improve the efficacy on SPFS-C and RPFS-C.