Therapeutic efficacy and mechanism of heat-sensitive moxibustion for vascular dementia / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

ABSTRACT

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of heat-sensitive moxibustion for vascular dementia and explore its mechanism. Methods: A total of 70 patients with vascular dementia were randomized into an observation group and a control group, with 35 cases in each group. The control group was treated with piracetam, and the observation group was treated with heat-sensitive moxibustion on the basis of the treatment of the control group. The treatment lasted for 8 weeks. Before and after the treatment, the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), activity of daily living (ADL) and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom scores were assessed, and the levels of acetyl choline (Ach) and homocysteine (Hcy) were measured. The efficacy was evaluated after treatment. Results: The total effective rate of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the MMSE and ADL scores in the observation group decreased significantly, and were lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05); the TCM symptom score of the observation group decreased significantly (P<0.05), while that of the control group had no significant change (P>0.05); the plasma Ach level in the observation group increased significantly (P<0.05), and the Hcy level decreased significantly (P<0.05), which were statistically different from those in the control group (both P<0.05). Conclusion: Heat-sensitive moxibustion plus piracetam is effective in treating vascular dementia. It can significantly improve dementia symptoms and ADL, which may be related to the correction of plasma Ach and Hcy levels.