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Recent Research |
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Acupuncture Pain Management for Patients with Cystic Fibrosis |
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The Effects of Laser Acupuncture on Chronic Tension Headache |
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The Effect of Chinese herbs on the Expression of Aquaporin 3,4 Gene in Gastric Mucosa of Patients with Pi-Wei Damp-Heat Syndrome Chen GX, et al. Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou. cgx0101@sohu.com A study was conducted to examine the relationship between Pi-Wei Damp-Heat Syndrome (PWDHS) with expression of aquaporin (AQP) 3,4 gene in gastric mucosa and the effects of Qingre Huashi Recipe (QHR) on the expression. A total of 68 patients with chronic superficial gastritis were differentiated into Pi-Wei Damp-Heat Syndrome group (PWDHS, n = 53, 19 cases with predominant Dampness, 14 cases with predominant Heat, 20 cases with Dampness equal to Heat) and Pi deficiency Syndrome group (PDS, n = 15). The PWDHS group was treated with QHR. The expression of AQP 3,4 gene in the two groups were verified by fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR). The results of the study showed that expression of AQP 3 gene in PWDHS was higher than that in PDS and the healthy group, but the difference showed no statistical significance. Expression of AQP 4 gene in PWDHS was obvious higher than that in PDS and the healthy group (P <0.05 or P <0.01), but the difference of AQP 4 gene expression between PDS and the healthy group was insignificant. Comparison among various sub-types of PWDHS showed that the AQP 4 gene expression in the predominant dampness > dampness equal to heat> predominant heat. AQP 3,4 gene expression in PWDHS was significantly decreased after QHR treatment, especially in the cases with predominant dampness syndrome (P <0.01), approaching that in the healthy group and PDS. In conclusion, abnormal expression of AQP 3,4 gene may be one of the possible mechanisms of PWDHS pathogenesis, and Chinese herbs could influence AQP 3,4 gene expression to play a key role in treatment. Acupuncture Pain Management for Patients with Cystic Fibrosis Lin YC, et al. Medical Acupuncture Service, Department of Anesthesiology Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. yuan-chi.lin@childrens.harvard.edu According the authors of the study, cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most commonly occurring genetic disorder among Caucasians. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of acupuncture for pain management in patients with CF; clinical data was obtained regarding the integration of acupuncture into the management of pain in patients with CF. Pain was measured using visual analog scales. It was found that acupuncture was effective in decreasing pain complaints in patients with CF. No side effects or complications were reported in relation to the acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture is effective for managing symptoms and illnesses associated with CF. Further randomized controlled trials will be necessary to evaluate additional efficacy in pain management and the improvement of the quality of life of patients with CF. The Effects of Laser Acupuncture on Chronic Tension Headache Ebneshahidi NS, et al. Physical Therapy Dept, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. na_sa_eb@yahoo.com A recent study was done to examine the effects of laser acupuncture on chronic tension headaches. Fifty patients were randomly placed in two groups – treatment and placebo. The treatment group received low energy laser acupuncture to LU7, LI4, GB14, and GB20 bilaterally. Points were irradiated for 43 seconds, and the intensity was 1.3J (approximately 13J/cm2). A total of ten sessions were given, three times per week. The placebo group was treated in a similar way except that the levels of intensity was set to zero. The outcome variables were headache intensity (VAS), duration of attacks, and number of days with a headache per month, by daily diary, assessed monthly to three months after treatment. The results showed that there were significant differences between the groups (P<0.001) in changes from baseline in months one, two and three, in median score for headache intensity (treatment group -5, -3 and -2, placebo group -1, 0 and 0), median duration of attacks (treatment group -6, -4 and -4, placebo group -1, 0 and 0 hours), and median number of days with headache per month (treatment group -15, -10 and -8, placebo group -2, 0 and 0). In conclusion, this study suggests that laser acupuncture may be an effective treatment for chronic tension-type headache, but the results should be confirmed in larger and more rigorous trials. |
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