The Treatment of Eye Diseases by Acupuncture

s of some articles on the treatment of eye disease in China and elsewhere. 1. Idiopathic Central Serous Retinopathy in China : A Report of 600 Case (624 Eyes) Treated by Acupuncture, Ji-Guang Lu & Thomas R. Friberg, in “Ophthalmic Surgery”, Vol 18, No 8, August 1987. This study analyses the treatment of patients with this fairly common condition (detached retina) in China by using the extra point Xiangyang. There is evidence of resolution of the condition after 3 months of treatment in 86% of cases. It should however be noted that there was no control group in this study. As the authors note, the condition is, in any case, self-limiting and tends to resolve in a few months. 2. Treatment and Prevention of Fulminant Red-Eye by Acupuncture and Blood Letting, Deng Shifa, in JTCM, 5(4); 263-264, 1985. This study looks at the treatment of this condition (acute conjunctivitis) by acupuncture during an epidemic in rural China in 1981. It gives details of point prescriptions and describes the used of bloodletting to clear heat. It claims that all patients treated with acupuncture and blood-letting were relieved of all symptoms in five and a half days (half the time required for spontaneous recovery).The article also suggests that acupuncture treatment is effective as preventative treatment in a conjunctivitis epidemic. 3. Optic Atrophy Treated with Acupuncture, Wu Zesen & Ye Xiaolu, in JTCM, 9 (4); 249-250 , 1989. The treatment of 17 cases of traumatic optic atrophy by acupuncture is described in this short article. All cases showed improvement in vision after two courses of treatment. The article details the point prescriptions used and includes a typical case from the sample. It is maintained that this therapeutic method is successful in promoting blood circulation and removing the stagnation of blood causing loss of vision. 4. Clinical Observation on Treatment of Disorders of the Optic Nerve by Acupuncture, Huang Shengyuan & Zeng Yuchen, in JTCM,5(3); 187-190, 1985. This article describes the treatment of 82 eyes (46 cases) by acupuncture at Sichuan Medical College. It gives more information than the above articles on differentiation of syndromes, point prescriptions and likely progress of treatment. The use of acupuncture treatment alongside other therapies (Vitamin B injections etc) is discussed. The article concludes that acupuncture was at least moderately effective in restoring vision in 76.9% of the cases of optic neuritis in the study, but less effective in cases of optic atrophy. 5. Clinical Application of Acupuncture in Ophthalmology, Dabov S, Goutoranov G, Ivanova R, Petkova N (Institute of Ophthalmology, Medical Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria) in Acupuncture and Electro-Therapeutic Research, International Journal, Vol 10, pp 79-93, 1985, Pergamon Press Ltd, USA. This is a study from the opthalmologist’s perspective of the treatment by acupuncture of 50 people suffering from myopia, glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa and optic nerve atrophy. The authors maintain that in all the patients a subjective improvement of visual acuity was observed after one to three courses of treatment, and are particularly enthusiastic about the results obtained in retinitis pigmentosa where 13 out of 23 patients improved markedly and the remainder stopped deteriorating. There were also marked improvements in 3 out of 14 children with myopia, 1 out of 5 children with optic nerve atrophy and four out of eight patients with glaucoma.