OBJECTIVE The goal of this paper is to describe the characteristics of physicians and their interventions in a large, multicentre randomised trial of acupuncture for tension-type headache known as ART TTH, in order to enable acupuncturists to assess the study interventions. METHODS Participating physicians were recruited whose qualifications met or surpassed those of physicians currently accr...

BACKGROUND This study evaluates the effect of acupuncture on hot flashes and disturbed night sleep in patients treated for breast cancer. The effect of acupuncture was tested against a sham-acupuncture group and a no-treatment control group. Plasma estradiol was measured to rule out this as cause of effect. Side effects of the treatment were registered. METHODS We randomized 94 women into the...

To evaluate the current evidence for effectiveness of acupuncture for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the form of a systematic review, a systematic literature search was conducted in 23 electronic databases. Grey literature was also searched. The key search terms were "acupuncture" and "PTSD." No language restrictions were imposed. We included all randomized or prospective clinical tria...

BACKGROUND Adverse effects such as fatigue, pain, erythema, nausea and vomiting are commonly known in patients undergoing irradiation (RT) alone or in combination with chemotherapy (RCHT). Patients suffering from these symptoms are limited in their daily life and their quality of life (QOL) is often reduced. As addressed in several trials, acupuncture can cause amelioration of these specific di...

BACKGROUND Recently, increasing evidence has indicated that the primary acupuncture effects are mediated by the central nervous system. However, specific brain networks underpinning these effects remain unclear. RESULTS In the present study using fMRI, we employed a within-condition interregional covariance analysis method to investigate functional connectivity of brain networks involved in a...

A middle cerebral artery occlusion-model was established in rats using the improved thread embolism method. Rats were treated with acupuncture at either Dazhui (DU14), Renzhong (DU26), Baihui (DU20), or a non-meridian point. Detection with protein-chip technology showed that the level of protein phosphorylation in both groups was upregulated or downregulated depending on the signaling pathway c...

A growing number of physiotherapists around the globe have begun incorporating acupuncture into their treatment plans for patients with neuromuscular conditions. Acupuncture has been established as being safe and effective within the 11 countries forming the International Acupuncture Association of Physical Therapists (IAAPT), allowing for acupuncture to be practiced by physiotherapists and int...

Functional magnetic resonance imaging has been widely used to investigate the effects of acupuncture on neural activity. However, most functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have focused on acute changes in brain activation induced by acupuncture. Thus, the time course of the therapeutic effects of acupuncture remains unclear. In this study, 32 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impai...

OBJECTIVE The clinical long-term effectiveness of real and sham acupuncture treatment on differentiated pain measurement was evaluated in chronic lateral epicondylitis, an example of a tendomyotic disorder. METHODS Randomised, examiner- and patient-blinded controlled clinical study. OUTCOME MEASUREMENT pain at rest, pain on movement, pain on exertion, frequency and duration of pain. Real ac...

Introduction Acupuncture has been frequently applied to low back pain (LBP). A number of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on acupuncture for LBP have already been published. According to systematic reviews of the relevant RCTs, conclusions regarding the efficacy of acupuncture are contradictory. This maybe because the quality of the trials is generally low. It has been suggested that further...