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For specific information detailing some research articles on this condition and Acupuncture, please read below.

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ACUPUNCTURE ASSISTS POST SURGERY PAIN AND NAUSEA and with CHEMOTHERAPY

Acupuncture For Surgical Pain. Duke University Medical Center.

NEEDLES RELIEVING PAIN?   During surgery, anesthesia and pain-killing medications are often used to make patients comfortable and make invasive surgery possible. After surgery, patients are often left with post-operative pain requiring additional medication. These drugs, ranging from narcotics to opioids, can cause unpleasant side effects like nausea, vomiting, constipation and hallucinations. A 2007 study out of Duke University Medical Center suggests acupuncture may reduce patients' post-operative pain, therefore reducing the amount of painkillers needed.

After analyzing 15 studies on acupuncture for surgical pain, Duke researchers found performing acupuncture reported significantly less pain afterwards than patients who did not receive acupuncture. The patients also required less painkillers after surgery, thereby reducing related side effects. Acupuncture patients experienced 1.5 times lower rates of nausea, 1.6 times fewer reports of dizziness and 3.5 times fewer cases of urinary retention compared to the other patients, the study found.

T.J. Gan, M.D., vice chair of the department of anesthesiology at Duke University School of Medicine, is convinced it's right for some cases. "There has been a fair amount of evidence both in animals and humans that stimulating the acupuncture points can result in the release of body own pain killers systems such endorphins and enkephalins," Dr. Gan told Ivanhoe.

Acupuncture in surgery programs are also in place at Yale, Stanford, Bringham and Women's and Massachusetts General Hospital, among others.

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Acupuncture May Reduce Nausea, Vomiting After Chemotherapy

Acupuncture, when used with medication, appears to alleviate the nausea and vomiting that follows chemotherapy in some patients with cancer, according to an assessment of 11 trials, which the National Institutes of Health deems "promising."

That’s good news, because addressing these side effects may improve patients’ ability to undergo treatment and care for themselves while doing so.

"I recommend acupuncture all the time for patients who have nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy, based on multiple studies that have been done," says Tanya Edwards, M.D., Medical Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative Medicine. The center uses both traditional Western medicine and complementary therapies in science-based plans to treat diseases and their symptoms.

Acupuncture stimulates specific locations on the body through thin needles inserted under the skin. Two theories exist to explain its apparent effectiveness in patients undergoing chemotherapy. According to traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture points connect to pathways in the body known as meridians to restore the flow of qi (pronounced "chee"), the Chinese word for vital energy or life force, and to balance the opposing forces of yin and yang, which are disrupted by chemotherapy. Practitioners of Western medicine believe that acupuncture may encourage the release of the body’s natural painkillers, affecting the part of the central nervous system associated with nausea and vomiting.

In addition to helping relieve nausea and vomiting, acupuncture seems to aid sleep and increase energy levels in some patients. "Preliminary studies suggest that acupuncture also may help increase a person’s white blood cell count. Low white blood cell counts are a significant problem for many patients taking chemotherapy," Dr. Edwards says.

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Acupuncture proven effective at treating post-operative nausea.

Acupuncture has proven itself useful yet again in a study conducted in Sydney, Australia that focused on the use of a single acupuncture point, the P6 point, as a point for treating post-operative nausea. The study showed that those who received the acupuncture treatment on their P6 point were 28% less likely to feel nauseous, and 29% less likely to be sick than patients who did not receive the treatment, or who received sham treatments, such as insertion of the needle at the wrong point.

There are a couple of interesting points to note about this study. First, this is yet more evidence that acupuncture is in fact quite useful, not only in treating nausea, but in altering the nature of the mind-body connection in patients. But the really interesting thing about this study is only obvious when you zoom out and look at the big picture here. This was conducted by the insertion of a single needle at a single point. That's not something that an experienced acupuncture practitioner would typically do. Acupuncture is not so rigid as to be limited to a

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Monday, June 02, 2008

At an American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago recently, new research was presented on acupuncture for head and neck cancer patients.  The study was done at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.   Seventy post-radiation patients were divided into two groups - one group had standard treatments and the other group had standard treatments plus acupuncture.  In the group which had acupuncture, 39% of patients reported improvements in pain and mobility.  In the group without acupuncture, only 7% reported improvements.  In my opinion, this is the direction medicine should be going - the integration of Western and Eastern approaches.  There's no reason why we can't take the best that each has to offer and have the best of both worlds.

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Evaluation of Acupuncture for Pain Control After Oral Surgery

A Placebo-Controlled Trial

Lixing Lao, PhD, LAc; Stewart Bergman, DDS; Gayle R. Hamilton, PhD; Patricia Langenberg, PhD; Brian Berman, MD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1999;125:567-572.

Background  Acupuncture is increasingly being used by the general population and investigated by conventional medicine; however, studies of its effects on pain still lack adequate control procedures.

Objectives  To evaluate the (1) efficacy of Chinese acupuncture in treating postoperative oral surgery pain, (2) validity of a placebo-controlled procedure, and (3) effects of psychological factors on outcomes.

Design  Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Setting  Dental School Outpatient Clinic, University of Maryland at Baltimore.

Participants  Thirty-nine healthy subjects, aged 18 to 40 years, assigned to treatment (n=19) and control (n=20) groups.

Main Outcome Measures  Patients' self-reports of time until moderate pain, time until medication use, total pain relief, pain half gone, and total pain medication consumption.

Results  Mean pain-free postoperative time was significantly longer in the acupuncture group (172.9 minutes) than in the placebo group (93.8 minutes) (P=.01), as was time until moderate pain (P=.008). Mean number of minutes before requesting pain rescue medication was significantly longer in the treatment group (242.1 minutes) than in the placebo group (166.2 minutes) (P=.01), as was time until medication use (P=.01). Average pain medication consumption was significantly less in the treatment group (1.1 tablets) than in the placebo group (1.65 tablets) (P=.05). There were no significant between-groups differences on total-pain-relief scores or pain-half-gone scores (P>.05). Nearly half or more of all patients were uncertain of or incorrect about their group assignment. Outcomes were not associated with psychological factors in multivariate models.

From the Complementary Medicine Program, Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine (Drs Lao and Berman), Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental School (Dr Bergman), and Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine (Dr Langenberg), University of Maryland at Baltimore; and Center for the Advancement of Public Health, George Mason University, Fairfax, Va (Dr Hamilton).

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Preoperative Intradermal Acupuncture Reduces Postoperative Pain, Nausea and Vomiting, Analgesic Requirement, and Sympathoadrenal Responses.

CLINICAL INVESTIGATIONS

Anesthesiology. 95(2):349-356, August 2001.
Kotani, Naoki M.D. *; Hashimoto, Hiroshi M.D. *; Sato, Yutaka M.D. +; Sessler, Daniel I. M.D. ++; Yoshioka, Hideki M.D. [S]; Kitayama, Masatou M.D. [S]; Yasuda, Tadanobu M.D. [S]; Matsuki, Akitomo M.D. [//]

Abstract:
Background: In a controlled and double-blind study, the authors tested the hypothesis that preoperative insertion of intradermal needles at acupoints 2.5 cm from the spinal vertebrae (bladder meridian) provide satisfactory postoperative analgesia.

Methods: The authors enrolled patients scheduled for elective upper and lower abdominal surgery. Before anesthesia, patients undergoing each type of surgery were randomly assigned to one of two groups: acupuncture (n = 50 and n = 39 for upper and lower abdominal surgery, respectively) or control (n = 48 and n = 38 for upper and lower abdominal surgery, respectively). In the acupuncture group, intradermal needles were inserted to the left and right of bladder meridian 18-24 and 20-26 in upper and lower abdominal surgery before induction of anesthesia, respectively. Postoperative analgesia was maintained with epidural morphine and bolus doses of intravenous morphine. Consumption of intravenous morphine was recorded. Incisional pain at rest and during coughing and deep visceral pain were recorded during recovery and for 4 days thereafter on a four-point verbal rating scale. We also evaluated time-dependent changes in plasma concentrations of cortisol and catecholamines.

Results: Starting from the recovery room, intradermal acupuncture increased the fraction of patients with good pain relief as compared with the control (P < 0.05). Consumption of supplemental intravenous morphine was reduced 50%, and the incidence of postoperative nausea was reduced 20-30% in the acupuncture patients who had undergone either upper or lower abdominal surgery (P < 0.01). Plasma cortisol and epinephrine concentrations were reduced 30-50% in the acupuncture group during recovery and on the first postoperative day (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: Preoperative insertion of intradermal needles reduces postoperative pain, the analgesic requirement, and opioid-related side effects after both upper and lower abdominal surgery. Acupuncture analgesia also reduces the activation of the sympathoadrenal system that normally accompanies surgery.

(C) 2001 American Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc.

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Acupuncture Used To Ease Side Effects Of Cancer Treatment

New research shows acupuncture is an effective way to ease the side effects of breast cancer treatment. Doctors at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit conducted the study and compared acupuncture to drug therapy.

Drew Levinson spoke to one patient who says it's helping.

"It helps you a lot, it helps you feel better,” said breast cancer survivor, Joan Deignan.

Nine years ago, Joan was diagnosed with cancer.  She had two mastectomies. For many women like Joan, the lifesaving treatment of chemo and hormonal therapy comes with night sweats, hot flashes and fatigue. Anti-depressants and steroids have been used for years to ease those side  effects but often they come with side effects of their own.

Now, new research shows acupuncture may be a more effective remedy.

"They have found that it relieves nausea, they've found relief of hot flashes, they have increased energy from it," said Joan’s surgeon Dr. Sharon Rosenbaum Smith.

The study shows the acupuncture treatment lasts longer. Two weeks after stopping the drugs, women say their symptoms started coming back with the acupuncture it was 15 weeks.

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Acupuncture beats drug to treat hot flashes

Acupuncture works as well as a drug commonly used to combat hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms that can accompany breast cancer treatment, and its benefits last longer, without bad side effects, researchers said on Monday.

They tested acupuncture, against the Wyeth antidepressant Effexor, for hot flashes in breast cancer patients. Acupuncture was just as effective as Effexor, also called venlafaxine, in managing symptoms including hot flashes and night sweats, according to researchers led by Dr. Eleanor Walker of Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

After 12 weeks of treatment, symptoms were reduced for 15 additional weeks for women who had undergone acupuncture, compared with two weeks for those who had taken Effexor, Walker said. “It was a more durable effect,” Walker, whose findings were presented at an American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology meeting in Boston, said in a telephone interview.

There were no bad side effects with acupuncture, and women reported increased energy, overall sense of well-being and sexual desire, the researchers said. Those taking Effexor reported side effects including nausea, headache, difficulty sleeping, dizziness, increased blood pressure, fatigue and anxiety.

The study adds to a growing body of evidence of the value of acupuncture. Earlier research had shown it can reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea and post-operative pain. “It’s been tested directly against a drug that we use regularly. And it’s more effective. It has benefits, as opposed to any side-effects,” Walker said. “If you only have to give women treatment three to four times a year as opposed to having to take a pill every day, that’s going to be more cost-effective for insurance companies and the patient,” Walker added.

Breast cancer patients can develop menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes after treatment with chemotherapy and anti-estrogen hormones. Hormone replacement therapy is often used to treat such symptoms in women without breast cancer, but breast cancer patients cannot use that therapy because it may raise the risk of the cancer’s return.

Effexor is one of the most commonly used drugs to treat hot flashes in these women

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Complementary therapies may boost effectiveness of radiation

With recent research on radiation therapy and breast cancer in the news, many questions are being raised about complementary approaches decreasing toxicity and increasing effectiveness.

Acupuncture used with cancer and radiation therapy is well-researched and has several benefits. One is enhanced immune function. Specific acupuncture points can increase red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

Acupuncture also may stimulate steroid levels and other hormones, such as melatonin, that could have anti-tumor activity.

Many randomized controlled studies have confirmed that acupuncture calms nausea and vomiting. Furthermore, some acupuncture points increase the anti-emetic effect of drugs before and after surgery, and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

Acupuncture can be effective in managing pain in cancer and during radiation treatment. Acupuncture may also be helpful for post-radiotherapy contracture of the jaw muscle. Acupuncture can also be effective in managing edema. Additionally, acupuncture may help in the treatment of fatigue and body wasting through the modulation of cytokines and hormones.

Dry mouth from head and neck radiation therapy can cause loss of taste, difficulty speaking and swallowing. Acupuncture has been found to reverse those effects by increasing blood flow to the salivary glands. One study found an increase in salivary flow rate in all patients after acupuncture treatment and six months' follow-up. After three years, those patients who chose to be treated with additional acupuncture demonstrated a consistently higher salivary flow rate.

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More data to be posted here soon.

Thankyou for your interest in how Acupuncture can help this condition.

For general information on Acupuncture please click on the Acupuncture Tab.

For information on Acupuncture Brisbane and how we can help, please click on the Home tab.