Acupoint therapy can reduce airway inflammation and control asthma symptoms / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects of acupoint therapy on inflammatory factors and its clini-cal efficacy in relieving bronchial asthma. Methods Selected patients with bronchial asthma which was in remis-sion were randomly divided into a treatment group that was treated with acupoint therapy and a control group that was given Seretide. Each group had 30 cases. The treatment period was 4 weeks. Both groups were evaluated in terms of Asthma Control Test ( ACT) scores and the serum content of interleukin-5 ( IL-5) and interleukin-10 ( IL-10) before and at one month ( short-term) , as well as three months after the end of the treatment ( long-term) . The asthma control situation ( fully controlled, partially controlled or uncontrolled) was evaluated. Results Before treatment the average ACT scores of the two groups were not significantly different. After the treatment both the short-term and long-term average ACT scores of the treatment group were significantly higher than those of the con-trol group. The total effectiveness rate of asthma control in the treatment group in the short term ( 93%) was signifi-cantly higher than that in the control group ( 70%) . After the treatment the IL-5 and IL-10 levels in the treatment group were improved to a significantly greater extent than those in the control group. Conclusion Acupoint thera-py can reduce airway inflammation, control bronchial asthma symptoms and show good clinical efficacy, probably by regulating IL-5 and IL-10 levels.