BACKGROUND Dry eye is usually managed by conventional medical interventions such as artificial tears, anti-inflammatory drugs and surgical treatment. However, since dry eye is one of the most frequent ophthalmologic disorders, safer and more effective methods for its treatment are necessary, especially for vulnerable patients. Acupuncture has been widely used to treat patients with dry eye. Our...

BACKGROUND Studies assessing the point-specific effect of acupuncture or the characteristics of acupuncture points (APs) tend to yield inconclusive results. In order to identify a possible confounding factor, we aimed to examine the variability in AP localization by means of a survey. MATERIAL AND METHODS Attendees of the 14th ICMART (International Council of Medical Acupuncture and Related T...

INTRODUCTION Auricular acupuncture is given as a treatment for drug dependence. Points are usually chosen on the assumption that the body is represented somatotopically in the ear, although there is no anatomical basis for this. In clinical trials, sham treatment is often given at points that are supposedly 'incorrect' for the condition, in the belief that they are inactive. The aim of this stu...

In October 2000 the German Federal Committee of Physicians and Health Insurers recommended that special Model Projects on Acupuncture ("Modellvorhaben Akupunktur") be developed in order to determine the evidence-based role of acupuncture in the treatment of certain illnesses. This paper presents a summary of the main randomised controlled trials performed as part of these projects, and the asso...

BACKGROUND Several studies have used placebo acupuncture methods in recent years as a way for blinding therapeutic effect of acupuncture, however placebo method selection has not followed enough methodological criteria to the point of stabilishing a consensus of what should be the best method to be used. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of three different placebo acupuncture metho...

The use of laser light as an alternative to needles to stimulate acupuncture points has been promoted for almost three decades. However, there has been no systematic assessment of the evidence to support the effectiveness of this form of acupuncture to date. A systematic review was therefore undertaken of RCTs evaluating laser acupuncture as a primary intervention. Relevant studies (n = 18) wer...

The practice of acupuncture involves the stimulation of specific points on the skin called 'acupuncture points' which are small regions of local or referred pain that are more sensitive than surrounding tissue. The fact that acupuncture points can be identified subjectively as tender points and are found to have characteristic electrical properties suggest that they are functional entities rath...

Background Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting can significantly lower a patient’s quality of life. Despite recent advances in antiemetic drugs, management of these symptoms remains challenging. Therefore, oncology teams including nurses and physicians are required to have a good understanding of the effectiveness of available adjunctive therapies to alleviate these symptoms. This systemat...

BACKGROUND Fainting is one of the major adverse events that can occur as a result of acupuncture treatment. However, the observation of changes in biological parameters is rarely available when fainting occurs. In this case report, we could observe changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG) in a participant who fainted while participating in a clinical trial aiming to observe a relationship betw...

BACKGROUND Despite acupuncture's wide and successful use, it is still considered as lacking scientifically rigorous evidence, especially with respect to its effectiveness. To address this problem, it is necessary to re-examine the practice of acupuncture using scientific methodology. The standardization of acupuncture practices may offer a solution. As a preliminary step towards the standardiza...