Acupuncture is commonly used to treat stress, anxiety and depression.
It has been shown to influence various neurotransmitters in the
central nervous system, including noradrenaline and serotonin. Indeed,
the most common side-effect of acupuncture treatment reported by
patients is that of feeling reduced stress and improved sense of
well-being. Patients often describe themselves as feeling relaxed,
even mildly disoriented, and often “more whole” or “connected.”
Functional MRI studies have shown that various centers in the brain,
including the limbic system (the “emotional brain”),
are activated by acupuncture.
Several controlled trials have shown acupuncture’s effectiveness
in cases of depression to be comparable to amytriptyline with no
difference in long-term recurrence rates, but with none of the side-effects
(Luo et al 1985; Lou et al 1990; Yang 1994). Acupuncture has also
been shown to reduce HAD (Hospital Anxiety and Depression) scales
in cases of chronic pain conditions (Tao 1993). Acupuncture can
improve sleep in most patients. Authors have noted a similarity
of response to benodiazepine drugs (Lo & Chung 1979). In China,
acupuncture is often used to treat schizophrenia, and several successful
trials have been reported (Kane & Di Scipio 1979, Shi &
Tan 1986). Experimental studies have also shown a rise in L-5 hydroxytryptophan
in rabbits following acupuncture, which could be a good reason to
use acupuncture in manic-depressive states (Chei n & Zakaria
1974).
Luo H C, Jia Y K, Li Z 1985 Electroacupuncture vs amitriptyline
in the treatment of depressive states. Journal of Traditional
Chinese Medicine 5:3-8
Lou I, Jia Y, Wu X, Dai
W 1990 Electro-acupuncture in the treatment of depressive
psychosis. A controlled prospective randomised trial using electro-acupuncture
and amitriptyline in 241 patients. International Journal
of Clinical Acupuncture 1:7-13.
Yang X 1994 Clinical
observation on needling extra-channel points in treating mental
depression. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 14:14-18
Tao D J 1993 Research
on the reduction of anxiety and depression with acupuncture. American
Journal of Acupuncture 21:327-330
Lo C W, Chung Q Y 1979.
The sedative effect of acupuncture. American Journal
of Chinese Medicine VII :253-258.
Kane J, Di Scipio W 1979
Acupuncture treatment of schizophrenia: report on three
cases. American Journal of Psychiatry 136:297-302. RESULTS:
In a 9-week study of three schizophrenics, two patients responded
positively to true acupuncture treatment and negatively to “sham”
treatment and a third patient showed no significant response to
treatment.
Shi Z, Tan M 1986 An
analysis of the therapeutic effect of acupuncture treatment in 500
cases of schizophrenia. Journal of Traditional Chinese
Medicine 6:99-104. RESULTS: “Cure” in 275 patients,
no help in 58 patients and varying imrpovement in the rest In a
follow-up of 194 patients, 63 relapsed within 2 years. Patients
wit ha history of less than 1 year showed a more favorable response,
but even a 10-year history did not prevent nine patients from responding
favorably.
Zhang M 1988 Treatment
of 296 cases of hallucination with scalp-acupuncture. Journal
of Traditional Chinese Medicine 8:193-194. RESULTS: Of 296 cases
of hallucination, 292 had schizophrenia. RESULTS: 10 daily sessions
with the needles retained between 1 and 3 hours resulted in a 70%
“cure” rate after 10-20 treatments
Chein E Y M, Zakaria
S 1974 Acupuncture for psychiatric disorders. Journal
of the American Medical Association 229:639.
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