Parkinson’s disease is an
age-related, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects approximately
1 in 1000 population over age of 60 years. PD is caused by inability of brain
to produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that affects the regulation of movement
and our mood as well. The main motor symptoms of PD include slow movement,
resting tremor, muscular rigidity, postural imbalance. The non-motor symptoms
are found in majority of PD patients and consist of autonomic dysfunction,
neuropsychiatric disturbance, sleep disorders and gastrointerestinal symptoms
and many others. Clinic treatment with levodopa, the precursor of dopamine,
provides only a symptomatic relief with limited time rather a cure. Long-term
treatment with levodopa induces advert effect such as motor fluctuation and
dyskinesia within approximately 50% of patients with PD within 3-5 years
following medication.
Acupuncture is one of the most
popular types of complementary medicines because it has been reported to be a very safe and well-tolerated treatment with only minor side effects. Many
patients with PD are reported using acupuncture as an alternative treatment at
some points of their life. It has been estimated that more than a quarter of
patients with PD in the United States (40%), Britain (38.7%), Singapore (61%)
and Argentina (25.7%) have used at least one form of complementary medicine for
PD, while 7-49% of them have used acupuncture as an alternative therapy.
Recently it has been reported that acupuncture treatment to patients with PD
significantly improved the motor function of affected hand following
acupuncture treatment. Brain functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI), a
non-invasive technique, revealed that the putamen and the primary motor cortex,
the areas associated with motor functions, were activated when PD patients
received acupuncture treatment and these activations correlated with individual
enhanced functions. These studies showed that acupuncture
treatment is effective in improving the motor symptoms of PD.
Reference:
Y Chae et al., (2009) Movement
Disorders, Vol. 24, 1794–1802. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19533753
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