• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.12-23
• /
• 2014

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to report possibility of acupuncture or moxibustion for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) by reviewing literature about its effectiveness. Methods : In this review, PubMed, SCOPUS, Science Direct and CINAHL of EBSCOhost were used to search medical journals, using keywords "Parkinson's disease and acupuncture" and "Parkinson's disease and moxibustion". The search range included randomized controlled trials (RCT) about Parkinson's disease combined with another disease and other treatments with acupuncture or moxibustion. Non-randomized controlled trial (nRCT), case study, animal experiment, human experiment, review, survey, essay, letter, and protocol for review were excluded. Results : From 311 studies, 111 were selected during the title and the screening. Finally, 16 RCTs (15 for acupuncture research and one for moxibustion) were included in this review, after scanning and matching the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The number of patients varied between 5 and 88. A total of 12 studies using electroacupuncture (EA) were classified into acupuncture studies. The body acupuncture studies numbered 4, scalp acupuncture 4, body and scarp acupuncture mixed studies 4, and bee venom, ear and abdomen acupuncture were each one study. In evaluation methods, total effective rate method was used in 9 studies, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) was used in 8, and the Webster score in 2. In addition, the Berg balance scale (BBS), 30 m walking time, steps to walk 30 m, PD motor function score, and Motor Performance Series by Schoppe (MLS) method were used for evaluation. In 15 of the 16 studies, the verum acupuncture group showed significant improvement compared with the control. In 9 studies using total effective rate method, the effective rate was reported as 80.0-97.3% in verum acupuncture groups and 52.6-86.4% in controls. Conclusions : Acupuncture may be a plausible alternative method to care for the long term symptoms and treat movement impairment of Parkinson's disease. However, to confirm this result, high quality studies including randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind trials are warranted.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.20-31
• /
• 2021

The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for patients with rotator cuff diseases. There were 12 electronic databases and 3 trial registries searched up to November 30th, 2019. All randomized trials were eligible, regardless of language, date of publication, or settings. The primary outcomes were pain, shoulder function, and proportion of improved participants assessed within 12 weeks of randomization of the trial. The Cochrane risk of bias for the studies was assessed. Effects sizes were presented as a risk ratio, mean difference, or standardized mean difference with a 95% confidence intervals. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was adopted to rate certainty of evidence. Of the 3,686 records screened, 28 randomized trials (2,216 participants) were included in this review. The types of acupuncture included manual acupuncture, dry needling, electroacupuncture, acupotomy, warm needle acupuncture, and fire needle acupuncture. All of the studies had an unclear or high risk of bias related to more than 1 domain. Significant benefits of acupuncture in terms of pain and shoulder function were observed in all comparisons, however, the proportion of improved participants was not described in 2 comparisons. There was substantial heterogeneity among meta-analyzed trials. No serious harm was observed. For primary outcomes, the overall certainty of evidence was very low. There was very low certainty of evidence for the benefits of acupuncture for patients with rotator cuff diseases. The safety of acupuncture remains unclear due to the incompleteness of reporting. Future well-designed randomized trials with transparent reporting are required.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.183-192
• /
• 2008

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to compare immediate response after acupuncture on Local Acupoints group and Distal Acupoints group for neck pain patients. Methods : From January 2nd 2008 to August 31th 2008, 10 neck pain patients were divided into 2 groups. One group(test I group) was taken Local Acupoints, and the other group(test II group) was taken Distal Acupoints. To check immediate response and satisfaction of needling, visual analog scale(VAS), range of motion(ROM), clinical evaluation grade and five-point likert scale were used before and after treatment. Results : Both acupuncture therapy showed immediate response and good effect on neck pain. And test I group showed more immediate response than test II group on all categories. Conclusions : Local Acupoints group can be recommended as an immediate and useful therapy to treat neck pain.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.83-96
• /
• 2017

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the trends of acupuncture treatment on lateral epicondylitis. Methods : We investigated the recent clinical studies of acupuncture treatment for lateral epicondylitis via searching PubMed from 2007.1.1. to 2016.1.1. This study examined published years, the authors, journals, countries, types of study and classified articles by techniques of acupuncture. Results : 20 theses out of 38 were included, excluding papers duplicated or whose texts are not identified or not satisfying both acupuncture and lateral epicondylitis simultaneously. The theses were constantly published every year. Analyzed by journal, the most published journal was Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. The studies of China had the greatest number of the searched theses. The types of study were reviews, case series, and study protocol. The acupuncture technique used were Hwachim(burning acupuncture therapy), sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture, percutaneous needle electrolysis, electroacupuncture, small needle-knife, combination with local points and Tianzong(SI11), and anti-ashi-point. Conclusions : In order to develop acupuncture treatment of lateral epicondylitis, clinical studies on high level with objective evaluation scale are needed.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.163-171
• /
• 2009

Objectives : This study was designed to evaluate the effect of Miso Facial rejuvenation Acupuncture on severe cases of facial palsy. Methods : Facial palsy patients over the age of 70 with House-Brackmann grading system(HBGS) above Grade V were treated with Miso Facial rejuvenation Acupuncture. The effects of the treatment were evaluated via scales and picture. Results : Before treatment with Miso Facial rejuvenation acupuncture, the three patients showed H-B Gr V. After treatment, they showed improvement to H-B Gr II, III, and II respectively. There also formed nasolabial folds on the palsied side, with better blinking of the eyes, and improved asymmetry of the left and right face. Conclusions : Miso Facial rejuvenation Acupuncture showed marked improvement in intractable facial palsy. Randomized-controlled trial for further evaluation will be needed in the future.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.63-72
• /
• 2003

Objective : he purposes of this study are to evaluate the efficacy of Bee Venom therapy(BV) on HNP(Herniation of Nucleus Purposus) of Lumbar spine by use of Visual Analog Scale(VAS), Pain Rating Scale(PRS) and Digital Infrared Thermographic Imaging(DITI), and to investigate their correlation. Methods : We researched 20 patients who were diagnosed by MRI as having a HNP, and treated them by Oriental medical therapy(including BV) for 4 weeks. The evaluation was peformed twice(admission day and after treatment for 4 weeks), and we compared the results. Results : 1. VAS, PRS and ${\Delta}t$(by DITI) were decreased after BV for 4 weeks significantly(p<0.01). 2. There was significant correlation between VAS and PRS(p<0.05). 3. There was significant correlation between PRS and ${\Delta}t$(p<0.05). 4. There was no significant correlation between VAS and ${\Delta}t$. Conclusions : BV improved HNP subjectively and objectively, and correlation was found between VAS and PRS and between PRS and ${\Delta}t$. Further study is needed for investigating their correlation.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.419-432
• /
• 2017

Objectives: This study provides an evaluation of the effectiveness of acupuncture for the treatment of essential tremors (ETs) using randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: Nine databases (PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, OASIS, NDSL, CNKI, Wanfang, J-STAGE, and CiNii) and the keywords "Essential tremor", "Benign tremor", "Familial tremor", and "Acupuncture" were used to compile RCTs that used acupuncture to treat ETs. Studies that were not RCTs, such as case studies, reviews, and essays, were excluded. The methodological quality of each RCT was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool, and where appropriate, meta-analyses were performed. Results: Initially, 819 studies were found, but 773 were excluded after title and abstract screening. After further screening of the resulting 46 papers, eight RCTs were selected that had been published between 2003 and 2016, and the total effective rate (TER) was used as the primary evaluation method for all eight studies. It was found that the TER was significantly higher in treatment groups (83.33-96.7%) than in control groups (56.5-80.0%), and seven studies included in the meta-analysis showed positive results for acupuncture for ETs (Risk Ratio: 1.43, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.21-1.69, P<0.0001) Confidence Interval. Conclusions: This meta-analysis of clinical trials suggests that acupuncture is effective for treating ET patients; however, further studies are needed or larger populations to prove its effectiveness.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.79-88
• /
• 2020

Objectives This study was performed to research the trends of Chinese acupuncture treatment for ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods We searched clinical studies about Chinese acupuncture treatment for AS through China National Knowledge Infrastructure. We analyzed the characteristics of selected studies according to research design, sample size, publication year, treatment methods, evaluation criteria and adverse events. Results 16 studies published from 2015 to 2020 were selected. They consisted of 11 randomized controlled trials and 5 case reports. In these studies, several types of acupuncture treatments were performed and especially there were many treatments that applied thermal stimulation of needles. The most commonly used evaluation criteria was effective rate. Conclusions This study showed that acupuncture treatment could be effective for AS. It suggested that various studies should be conducted to provide reliable evidence about acupuncture treatment for AS in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.125-135
• /
• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to review current research trends and to provide basic data for the guideline of the acupuncture treatment for abdominal obesity in the clinic. Methods: Publications related to acupuncture treatment for abdominal obesity were retrieved from 9 databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Korean studies Information Service System, Research Information Sharing Service, DataBase Periodical Information Academic, National Discovery for Science Library). Extracted studies were analyzed in terms of publication year, study type, treatment method, acupoint and evaluation method. Results: There were 19 studies about acupuncture treatment applied to abdominal obesity. Electroacupuncture and acupoint catgut embedding therapy was the most frequently studied treatment method. ST₂₅, CV₁₂, SP₁₅, CV₆, CV₄ was the most frequently used acupoint. Body weight, body mass index, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio was the most frequently used evaluation method. Conclusions: This review identified acupuncture application for abdominal obesity. However, well-designed and conducted clinical trials will be more needed to develop acupuncture treatment for abdominal obesity.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.115-125
• /
• 2010

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of Bee-venom Acupuncture on upper limb spasticity control in stroke patients. Methods : Ten stroke patients with upper limb spasticity were randomly divided into two groups, a Bee-Venom Acupuncture group(group I) and a normal saline group(group II). After 1 week resting phase, this trial was used a cross-over trial. The numbers of Pharmacopuncture treatment were 3 times a week for 3 weeks. Modified Ashworth Scale(MAS), WMFT(Wolf Motor Function Test), The 10-second Test were used for evaluation of spasticity control before experiment, after 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks. Results : Group I showed significant improvement(p<.05) in MAS, WMFT, The 10-second Test. But Group II showed no significant improvement(p<.05) in MAS, WMFT, The 10-second Test. The results showed significant difference in WMFT, The 10-second Test, but no significant difference in MAS between two groups. Conclusions : These results showed that Bee-venom Acupuncture might decrease upper limb spasticity and increase arm motor function in stroke patients. Further studies will be required to examine more cases in the long period for the effect on upper limb in spasticity by Bee-Venom Acupuncture.