Acupuncture as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the United States. While
there have been many studies of its potential usefulness, many of these studies provide
equivocal results because of design, sample size, and other factors. The issue is further
complicated by inherent difficulties in the use of appropriate controls, such as placebos
and sham acupuncture groups. However, promising results have emerged, for example, showing
efficacy of acupuncture in adult post-operative and chemotherapy
nausea and vomiting and in post-operative dental pain. There are other
situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis
elbow, fibromyalgia, myofacial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel
syndrome, and asthma where acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an
acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program. Further
research is likely to uncover additional areas where acupuncture interventions will be
useful.
Acupuncture Cuts Dry Mouth in Cancer
Patients.
Small study suggests larger trials needed to assess therapy over longer time
WEDNESDAY, April 22 (HealthDay News) -- Acupuncture
reduces severe dry mouth (xerostomia)
among patients receiving radiation for head and neck
cancer a small pilot study suggests. "The
quality of life in patients with radiation-induced xerostomia is profoundly
impaired," study senior author Mark S. Chambers, a professor in the
dental oncology department at the
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, said in a news release from
the center. "Symptoms can include altered taste acuity, dental decay,
infections of the tissues of the mouth, and difficulty with speaking, eating
and swallowing. Conventional treatments have been less than optimal,
providing short-term response at best."
This study included 19 patients with xerostomia who'd
completed radiation therapy at least four weeks earlier. They were given two
acupuncture treatments a week for four weeks. Acupuncture points used in the
treatment were located on the ears, chin, index finger, forearm and lateral
surface of the leg. The acupuncture treatments resulted in improvements in
physical well-being and xerostomia symptoms, the researchers said. "Although
the patient population was small, the positive results are encouraging and
warrant a larger trial to assess patients over a longer period of time,"
Chambers said.
Acupuncture Cuts Ails of Breast Cancer
Drugs Acupuncture
Reduces Side Effects From Tamoxifen, Arimidex
WebMD Health News
Sept. 22, 2008 -- Acupuncture eases the hot flashes
and night sweats common in women taking tamoxifen and Arimidex after breast
cancer treatment. In a clinical trial, acupuncture helped hot flashes as
much as Effexor, the antidepressant currently prescribed for women suffering
the menopausal side effects of anti-estrogen drugs. Effexor itself has
troubling side effects, but acupuncture doesn't, says study leader Eleanor
Walker, MD, a radiation oncologist at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital.
"With acupuncture you can get a treatment for those
hot flashes that can alleviate them equal to drug therapy -- without side
effects and with improved quality of life," Walker tells WebMD. Acupuncture
is a technique from Chinese medicine. It involves the usually painless
process of placing extremely thin needles into the skin along specific
"acupuncture points." Acupuncturists think of these points as nodes where
lines of bodily energy converge, although these lines of energy do not
correspond to any actual physical structures known to Western medicine.
Walker and colleagues studied 47 women receiving either tamoxifen or
Arimidex after breast cancer treatment. Each woman suffered at least 14 hot
flashes a week.
Half the women were treated with Effexor for 12 weeks;
the other half received acupuncture. The two groups had similar, significant
decreases in hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. Both groups also had
fewer symptoms of depression. But women taking Effexor also had negative
side effects. These included nausea, dry mouth, headache, difficulty
sleeping, dizziness, double vision, increased blood pressure, constipation,
fatigue, anxiety, feeling "spaced out," and body jerking during the night.
Women getting acupuncture had none of these side effects, but they did
report increases in energy, clarity of thought, sexual desire, and overall
well-being. The findings don't surprise licensed acupuncturist Janet Konefal,
PhD, assistant dean for complementary and integrative medicine at the
University of Miami.
"We have had full-time, licensed acupuncturists at our
cancer center for almost a decade," Konefal tells WebMD. Konefal says
acupuncturists help cancer patients deal not only with anti-estrogen
therapy, but also with the troubling side effects of chemotherapy and
radiation therapy. "Acupuncture is a way to help regulate the body and
enhance what it would normally do," she says. "If you are taking a
medication to alter a condition, acupuncture is not going to override that.
It is going to support the system to help it better handle that treatment."
Walker says that most major cancer centers now have integrative medicine
departments that offer acupuncture.
"Obviously people are recognizing the benefit," Walker
says. "Women need to talk to their insurance companies and push them to
cover the cost -- to say, 'Look, here is a viable treatment that is less
expensive than drug therapy.' And they need to tell their doctors they want
this type of treatment."
Acupuncture and Sexual Function
Most women suffering hot flashes aren't taking breast
cancer drugs -- they're undergoing menopause. Acupuncture can help these
women too, Walker and Konefal say. "What we are looking for is for women
undergoing menopause to feel vital and healthy and to go through what would
be difficult with a lot more ease," Konefal says. And improved sexual
function is part of this restored vitality.
"Acupuncture can help women with this," Konefal says.
"It can increase blood flow to an area of the body. One thing acupuncture
now is used for is fertility. When women get in vitro insemination, they can
get acupuncture before and after to increase blood flow to the uterus and
ovaries and increase their chances of a normal pregnancy." Men, too, can
improve their sexual function with acupuncture treatment. Walker says
acupuncture can ease the side effects of chemical castration --
androgen-deprivation therapy -- in men treated for prostate cancer |
