Ginger-separated moxibustion for chronic fatigue syndrome and its effect on intestinal flora / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effect of ginger-separated moxibustion on fatigue state and intestinal flora in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).@*METHODS@#A total of 62 patients with CFS were randomly divided into an observation group (31 cases, 3 cases dropped off) and a control group (31 cases, 2 cases dropped off). The patients in the control group were treated with normal diet and moderate exercise; on the basis of the control group, the patients in the observation group were treated with ginger-separated moxibustion at Zhongwan (CV 12), Shenque (CV 8) and Guanyuan (CV 4), 30 min each time, once every other day, three times a week. Both groups were intervened for 4 weeks. Before and after treatment, the fatigue scale-14 (FS-14) was used to observe the improvement of fatigue state, and 16S rRNA detection technology was used to detect the distribution of intestinal flora.@*RESULTS@#Compared before treatment, the FS-14 score was reduced after treatment in the observation group (@*CONCLUSION@#The ginger-separated moxibustion could significantly improve the fatigue state in CFS patients, which may be related to the regulation of intestinal flora structure and the repair of intestinal barrier.

Effect of ginger-separated moxibustion on fatigue, sleep quality and depression in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomized controlled trial / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effect of ginger-separated moxibustion on fatigue, sleep quality and depression in the patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.@*METHODS@#A total of 62 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome were randomized into an observation group (31 cases, 3 cases dropped off) and a control group (31 cases, 2 cases dropped off). In the control group, the patients had normal diet and proper physical exercise. In the observation group, on the basis of the control group, the ginger-separated moxibustion was added at Zhongwan (CV 12), Shenque (CV 8) and Guanyuan (CV 4), 30 min each time, once every two days, 3 times weekly. Separately, before treatment and after 4 weeks of treatment, the MOS item short form health survey (SF-36), the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) scale and the self-rating depression scale (SDS) were adopted to evaluate the degrees of fatigue, sleep quality and depression in the patients of the two groups.@*RESULTS@#In the observation group, the score of each item of SF-36, the score of each item of PSQI and SDS score after treatment were all improved significantly as compared with those before treatment respectively (<0.05, <0.01). In the control group, the scores of overall health, vitality and mental health in SF-36 and the score of sleep time of PSQI after treatment were improved as compared with those before treatment respectively (<0.05). After treatment, the score of each item of SF-36, the scores of sleep quality, sleep time, sleep efficiency and sleep disorders of PSQI, as well as SDS score in the observation group were all better than those in the control group respectively (<0.01, <0.05). The score of SF-36 was relevant to the scores of PSQI and SDS in the patients of chronic fatigue syndrome ( =0.331, <0.05; =-0.706, <0.01). The improvement value of SF-36 score was closely related to the improvement value of SDS score in the observation group ( =-0.657, <0.01).@*CONCLUSION@#The ginger-separated moxibustion effectively relieves fatigue and depression condition and improves sleep quality in the patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. The fatigue condition is relevant with sleep quality and depression condition to a certain extent in the patients.

Acupuncture for moderate to severe allergic rhinitis: A non-randomized controlled trial / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect and safety of acupuncture therapy on patients with moderate to severe allergic rhinitis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A non-randomized controlled design was used to compare between the acupuncture group and the medication group. The acupuncture group received 8-week acupuncture therapy, and the medication group received budesonide nasal spray with cetirizine tablets for 8 weeks. The clinical symptoms and signs were analyzed before treatment, at 4 and 8 weeks after the start of treatment, and at 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Furthermore, the clinical efficacy and safety indicators were compared between the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 76 participants consisting of 38 in each of the two groups were enrolled. The scores of each clinical symptom and sign, including sneezing, runny nose, stuffy nose, nasal itching, and turbinate edema, and the total scores decreased over time in both groups (all P<0.05); and no difference was found in the scores between the two groups (P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the effective rates of the acupuncture group at 4 and 8 weeks after the start of treatment as well as at 12-week follow-up compared with those of the medication group (83.3% vs. 91.2%, and 94.4 % vs. 85.3%; and 80.6 % vs. 82.4%, all P>0.05). Experimental items including blood routine, urine routine, aspartate transaminase, alanine aminotransferase, urea nitrogen and creatinine were all in the normal reference ranges during the treatment in the acupuncture group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Acupuncture therapy has a comparable effect to the medication treatment on patients with moderate to severe allergic rhinitis, and it is safe with no severe adverse effects.</p>

Sheng's acupuncture manipulation at bone-nearby acupoints and the academic thoughts / 中国针灸

Sheng's acupuncture manipulation at bone-nearby acupoints is a set of needling manipulation of the chief physician of TCM, SHENG Xie-sun, summarized through his over 50 years clinical experiences and on the basis of Internal Classic. Regarding this manipulation, on the premise of acupoint selection based on syndrome differentiation, the acupoints close to bone are possibly selected and punctured, with the needle tip toward bone edge, and followed by the technique to achieve reducing purpose. Clinically, the significant immediate analgesia can be achieved in pain disorders such as headache and toothache. Professor Sheng thought, corresponding to the location of needle insertion and needling depth, the tissue layers of needle tip passing through should be considered specially. The site of needle insertion should be changeable so as to ensure the needle tip reaching the bone. This manipulation for analgesia provides a certain guide for acupuncture study, especially for the mechanism study on acupuncture analgesia.