Chronic acupuncture stimulation at the active acupoints has
potential effect of regulating some disease-affected brain regions and brain
pain circuitry in patients with migraine, according to a report recently
published in journal PLOS one.
Migraine attack is sometimes unbearable to the patients and the
impact on their families is huge. Loss of productivity due to migraine is
enormous to the society. Although the exact cause of migraine is still unknown
it is regarded as a central nervous system disorder. Acupuncture is effective
in relieving migraine but how it works is not well understood.
Scientists in China conducted a randomized controlled
clinical trial, using functional magnetic resonance imaging technique, to
compare the difference in brain activation pattern elicited by active acupoints
and inactive acupoints in 80 patients with migraine. Pain was measured by using
Visual Analogue Scale prior to and following acupuncture treatment. It was
found that acupuncture stimulation at active acupoints SJ5, GB20, GB34 and GB40
for 30 minutes once a day for 4 weeks produced a more extensive cerebral
response, in particular in pain-related areas and cognitive components of pain
processing. The changes in brain response are closely associated with reduction
in pain rating scale. In contrast, stimulation at inactive acupoint SJ22, PC7,
GB37 and SP3 induced much less brain responses in those pain-related areas and correlated
to less reduction in pain rating.
Authors suggest that therapeutic effect of long-term acupuncture
at active acupoint may be related to its enhancing the formation of psychophysical
pain homeostasis in brain of patients with migraine.
Reference:
Zhao L et al., Effects of Long-Term Acupuncture
Treatment on Resting-State Brain Activity in Migraine Patients: A Randomized
Controlled Trial on Active Acupoints and Inactive Acupoints. PLOS one. 2014 Jun
10;9(6):e99538. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0099538
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