Efficacy evaluation on electroacupuncture for Alzheimer's disease

Objective： To observe the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture（EA） on Alzheimer＇s disease（AD）.Methods： A total of 50 AD patients were randomly allocated into a Western medication（WM） group（n=25） and an acupuncture plus medication（APM） group（n=25）. Patients in the WM group took oral huperzine A capsules. In addition to huperzine A capsules, patients in the APM group also received EA at Shenting（GV 24）, Baihui（GV 20）, Dazhui（GV 14）,Fengfu（GV 16）, Mingmen（GV 4） and Yongquan（KI 1）. The needles on the above points were connected to G6805-Ⅱelectric stimulator [3 pairs： Shenting（GV 24） and Baihui（GV 20）; Dazhui（GV 14） and Fengfu（GV 16）; and bilateral Yongquan（KI 1）]. The needles were retained 25 min. The treatment was done once a day, and 10 times made up a course of treatment.The patients received a total of 3 treatment courses. There was a 3-day interval between two courses. The mini-mental state examination（MMSE） and Hasegawa dementia scale revised（HDS-R） were conducted before and after treatment. The clinical efficacies were evaluated when the treatment was completed.Results： Before treatment, there were no between-group statistical differences in MMSE and HDS-R scores（both P〈0.05）.After treatment, the MMSE and HDS-R scores in the APM group were significantly higher than those in the WM group（both P〈0.05）. The total effective rate in the APM group was 88.0%, versus 76.0% in the WM group, showing a statistical difference（P〈0.05）.Conclusion： EA is effective for AD and can improve clinical symptoms in AD patients.

Observation on clinical effect of tuina plus Western medication for functional dyspepsia due to liver qi stagnation and spleen deficiency

Objective：To observe the clinical effects of tuina plus Western medication for functional dyspepsia （FD） due to liver qi stagnation and spleen deficiency.Methods：A total of 72 patients in conformity with the inclusion criteria of FD were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group based upon the random number table,36 cases in each group.The control group was treated with mosapride citrate dispersible tablets,and the observation group was treated with the same tablets plus tuina.Before the treatment and 4 weeks after the treatment,the clinical symptoms,quality of life （QOL） and depression severity were observed by the scale,and were followed up two months later after the treatment for assessment of the clinical effects.Results：After the treatment and at the follow-up,the symptom scores of FD and the sores of Hamilton depression rating scale （HAMD） in both groups decreased,and the scores in Chinese version of quality of life questionnaire for functional digestive disorders （Chin-FDDQL） increased,with statistically significant differences in comparison with the same group before the treatment （all P〈0.05）.In comparison between the two groups at the same time point after the treatment,the scores of FD symptoms,HAMD and Chin-FDDQL were improved better in the observation group than those in the control group,with statistically significant differences （all P〈0.05）.The total effective rates at the follow-up were 91.7% in the observation group and 75.0% in the control group,without statistical difference between the two groups （P〉0.05）.The rate of clinical cure and remarkable effect was 66.7% in the observation group,higher than 41.7% in the control group,it is higher in the observation group than that in the control group,with a statistically significant difference between the two groups （P〈0.05）.Conclusion：Tuina plus Western medication is precise in the therapeutic effects for FD due to liver qi stagnation and spleen deficiency and can effectively relieve clinical symptoms,elevate the QOL and alleviate depression severity of the patients.Moreover,it＇s better than the treatment by Western medication alone in the long-term therapeutic effects.