A Case Report concerning Acupuncture Therapy on a Diabetic Patient / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

The number of diabetics is now on the increase in Japan. It was said several ten years ago that diabetics could not live long. Now, however, they can live as long as healthy people with advanced medical care.<br>The recent treatment of diabetes is done chiefly to prevent complications. Nevertheless, there are no effective treatments to prevent complications except for basic therapy such as diet or exercise. In the 51st conference of the Japan Endocrinological Society (1978), we reported the effects of acupuncture on alloxan-induced pancreatic island injury of DDY mice. We report here a clinical study on a patient with diabetes Acupuncture therapy was applied to the patient, and observation on changes in the diabetic condition such as subjective symptoms or blood sugar value, and in some phisical and chemical findings which indicate complications, was undertaken.<br>CASE REPORT<br>A patient with a long history of diabetes, who had been diagnosed in 1959, showed drastically changed symptoms since that time. When first examined in our clinic, fasting blood sugar (FBS) was 328mg/dl. The patient complained of amblyopia caused by diabetic cataract, malaise, anorexia, shoulder stiffness, a sensation of fullness in the abdomen, etc. On and after July 31, 1981, acupuncture therapy was applied everyday or every other day.<br>After the institution of acupuncture therapy, the subjective symptoms were gradually improved. FBS fell into the normal level (105mg/dl) on Aug. 17, 1982. The influence of another therapy which the patient concurrently underwent was also discussed.