Acupuncture treatment improved fatigue symptom in
multiple sclerosis patients who are resistant to drug amantadine, according to
a report published in journal Acupunct Medicine.
Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of multiple
sclerosis that has significant negative impact on the quality of life of
patients with the condition. After long term medication such as amantadine
which is the main drug used in fatigue treatment in multiple sclerosis, many
patients developed resistant to the drug. So alternative therapy is urgently
needed for them to keep the symptoms under control.
Doctors in Iran conducted a clinical study to evaluate
the efficacy of acupuncture on fatigue of patients with multiple sclerosis
resistant to amantadine. Twenty patients who were resistant to amantadine were
given acupuncture treatment 30 mins a day, on every other day, in total 12 sessions
within 4 weeks. Changes in fatigue were assessed by Fatigue Severity Scale
before and after treatment. At the end of acupuncture treatment 5 of 20
patients who were resistant to amantadine responded to acupuncture plus
amantadine treatment. The scores of Fatigue Severity Scale were significantly
reduced within patients resistant to amantadine.
Authors suggest that acupuncture is effective in treating
fatigue in proportion of patients with fatigue resistant to amantadine
treatment.
Reference:
Foroughipour M et
al., Amantadine and the place of acupuncture in the treatment of fatigue in
patients with multiple sclerosis: an observational study. Acupunct
Med2013;31:27–30. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23151355
No comments:
Post a Comment