OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of sacral acupuncture on acetic acid-induced bladder irritation using cystometry in conscious rats, with particular focus on effects on afferent fibers of the bladder. METHODS A total of 40 female Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200-270 g were used. The animals were divided into 5 groups: (1) rats with bladder overactivity induced by acetic acid, without sac...

OBJECTIVE While needle acupuncture is a well-accepted technique, laser acupuncture is being increasingly used in clinical practice. The differential effects of the two techniques are of interest. We examine this in relation to brain effects of activation of LR8, a putative acupuncture point for depression, using functional MRI (fMRI). METHODS Sixteen healthy participants were randomised to re...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this review was to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture for treatment of chronic headache. METHODS We searched the databases of Medline (1966-2007), CINAHL, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (2006), and Scopus for randomized controlled trials investigating the use of acupuncture for chronic headache. Studies were included in which adults with chroni...

BACKGROUND Acupuncture has been used during IVF treatment as it may improve outcome, however, there are concerns about the true efficacy of this approach. This randomized double blind study aimed to compare real acupuncture with placebo acupuncture in patients undergoing IVF treatment. METHODS On the day of embryo transfer (ET), 370 patients were randomly allocated to either real or placebo a...

In the West, hundreds of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been performed testing acupuncture. They include two types: those that compare acupuncture to other therapies, usual care or no treatment (pragmatic trials), and those that have placebo controls (efficacy trials). Acupuncture has generally performed well against other therapies or no treatment, but until recently, the evidence fr...

In this trial, patients who agreed to random assignment were allocated to a randomized acupuncture group (R-acupuncture group) or control group. Those who declined randomization were assigned to a nonrandomized acupuncture group (NR-acupuncture group). Patients in the R-acupuncture group and NR-acupuncture group received up to 21 acupuncture sessions during a period of 6 weeks plus routine care...

Methodological problems of acupuncture trials focus on adequate placebo controls. In this trial we evaluated the use of sham laser acupuncture as a control procedure. Thirty-four healthy volunteers received verum laser (invisible infrared laser emission and red light, 45 s and 1 J per point) and sham laser (red light) treatment at three acupuncture points (LI4, LU7 and LR3) in a randomized, dou...

This paper reviews the use of acupuncture to treat several disorders where pain is not the primary symptom. Studies on asthma have shown a small but consistent short-term therapeutic effect of acupuncture. One study of long-term effects found no improvement in asthma after acupuncture while the other reported a modest effect on symptom relief but with a greater impact on medication reduction. F...

OBJECTIVE Acupuncture systematic reviewers have increasingly searched Chinese databases and journals to identify eligible randomised clinical trials (RCTs). However, reviewers have infrequently searched for eligible RCTs in Korean databases and journals. This study aimed to identify difficult to locate acupuncture RCTs in Korean databases and journals and to assess the characteristics and quali...

This study consisted of a single centre randomised controlled trial with two parallel arms: an acupuncture group (n = 20) with 27 affected eyes and a sham group (n = 20) with 23 affected eyes. Participants in the acupuncture group received acupuncture treatment once daily, three times weekly for four weeks. Participants assigned to the control group received sham acupuncture, the same protocol ...