Acupuncture
treatment to veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) significantly
reduced PTSD severity and improved pain, depression and physical and mental
health functioning. It was reported in the journal of Med Care.
PTSD is an
anxiety disorder and develops after a terrifying ordeal that involved the
physical harm or the threat of physical harm, such as serious road accidents,
violent personal assault, warfare and natural disasters e.g. earthquake. PTSD
was first brought to public attention in relation to military combat veterans. Someone
with PTSD will often relieve the traumatic event through nightmare and
flashback, and may experience the feeling of irritability, guilty and
isolation. These symptoms are often severe and persistent enough to have a
significant impact on person’s day-to-day life. The common treatments include
psychotherapy e.g. cognitive behavioural therapy and medication such as
antidepressants. Those treatments are not always satisfactory.
Dr. Engel
and colleagues in the United State carried out a randomized clinical trial to
assess the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of patients with PTSD.
Fifty-five patients with PTSD were divided to two groups, one was treated with
acupuncture plus usual PTSD care, and another group was only treated with usual
PTSD care as a control. Acupuncture lasted ca. 60 min each time, twice weekly
for 4 weeks. Primary outcome measurements include the changes in PTSD symptom
improvement on PTSD checklist and the Clinician-administered PTSD scale. The
secondary outcomes include improvement in depression, pain severity, mental and
physical health functioning. The outcomes were monitored at the end of
treatment, 4 and 8 weeks following treatment.
It was
reported that acupuncture significantly reduced PTSD severity compared with
usual PTSD care alone. Acupuncture also markedly improved the symptoms in the
secondary outcome measurements such as pain severity, depression and mental and
physical health functioning. The therapeutic effects of acupuncture maintained
to the last follow-up monitoring.
The study
indicates that acupuncture is very effective in treating PTSD and associated
symptoms.
Reference:
Engel CC et al., Randomized Effectiveness Trial
of a Brief Course of Acupuncture for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Med Care.
2014 Dec;52 Suppl 5:S57-64. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25397825
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