Clinical observation on cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion for treatment of knee osteoarthritis / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe clinical therapeutic effect of monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion at Zusanli (ST 36) and Xiyan (EX-LE 5) on knee osteoarthritis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The patients of monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion group were treated with monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion at Dubi (ST 35), Zusanli (ST 36) and Neixiyan (EX-LE 4) on the affected side, and the medication group with oral administration of Xianling Gubao Capsules. After treatment for 4 weeks, VAS and index of severity of osteoarthritis (ISOA scale) were used for assessment of clinical therapeutic effect.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After treatment, the arthralgia and the index of severity significantly improved in the two groups (P < 0.01), and the analgesic effect and improvement of ISOA in the monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion group were better than those in the medication group (P < 0.05). The basic clinical cured rate was 80.0% and the effect-producing time was (10.91 +/- 4.17) days in the monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion group, and 53.3% and (12.28 +/- 4.60) days in the medication group, respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Therapeutic effect of monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion on knee osteoarthritis is better than that of oral administration of Xianling Gubao Capsules.</p>

Association between coronary artery stenosis and peripheral artery function in normotensive and hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the relationship between the parameters of artery elasticity and coronary artery stenosis in normotensive and hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Systemic vascular compliance (SVC), systemic vascular resistance (SVR), brachial artery compliance (BAC) and brachial artery resistance (BAR) were measured by Dynapulse 200M (Pulse Metric, Inc., USA) in 88 hypertensive and 41 normotensive patients with chest pain before coronary artery angiography.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) The prevalence rate of severe coronary disease (> or = 2 coronary branches) was higher in hypertensives than in normotensives (64.7% vs. 27.1%, P < 0.05); (2) the peripheral artery buffering function was significantly lower in hypertensives than in normotensives [SVC: (0.85 +/- 0.10) ml/mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa) vs. (1.17 +/- 0.11) ml/mm Hg; BAC: (0.047 +/- 0.011) ml/mm Hg vs. (0.063 +/- 0.010) ml/mm Hg, all P < 0.05]; (3) Lower arterial elasticity was associated with severe coronary artery stenosis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The non-invasive obtained artery elasticity is associated with the degree of coronary artery stenosis in hypertensive patients with CAD.</p>

Clinical observation on treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with cake-separated mild moxibustion combined with Western medicine / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect-increasing action of cake-separated mild moxibustion on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to probe a new method for RA.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty cases were randomly divided into 2 groups. The control group (n=30) were treated with oral administration of methotrexate (MTX) as basic treatment, and non-steroid anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) according to conditions of the patient. The treatment group (n=30) were treated with the same treatment as the control group, and Fuzi case-separated moxibustion at Guanyuan (CV 4) and Zusanli (ST 36) was added. They were treated for 3 months.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After treatment of 3 months, the total effective rate was 83.3% in the treatment group, which was higher than 60.0% in the control group (P < 0.05); there were significant differences before and after treatment in all indexes in the two groups (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); the ratio of the patients who completely withdrew NSAIDs in the treatment group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05); the rate of adverse reaction in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Fuzi cake-separated mild moxibustion can increase clinical therapeutic effect on RA and reduce dosage of NSAIDs.</p>