A randomized, patient/assessor blinded, controlled
clinical trial found that acupuncture treatment significantly reduced migraine
days, severity of migraine and improved the quality of life of patients with
frequent migraine headache attack. The trial was recently reported in the
journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Frequent migraine refers the migraine headache attack
occurs more than 5 days a month. If the attack occurs more than 15 days a month
it is defined as chronic migraine. Migraine is the19th prevalent health
condition according a report published by the International Migraine Society.
50% of chronic migraineurs and 27% of episodic migraineurs prefer non-pharmacological
therapies including acupuncture due to the side effects of pharmacological
treatment.
Dr. Y Wang and colleagues in Australia performed a
clinical trial to determine the short and long-term effects and safety of
acupuncture, compared with sham acupuncture on frequent migraine patients.
Fifty patients with chronic migraine were divided into real acupuncture group
(n=26) and sham acupuncture group (n=24). Acupoints selected include mandatory
acupoints and supplementary acupoints based on individual diagnosis of Chinese
medicine syndrome of migraine. A total of 16 real acupuncture treatment
sessions were delivered within 20-week treatment period. The primary outcome
measures include a 0-10 Visual Analogue Scale and a Six-Point Likert Scale for
measuring intensity of migraine. The secondary outcome measures include
severity and quality of migraine, the relief medication usage for migraine and
quality of life.
At the end of treatment it was found that patients within
real acupuncture group reported a significant reduced migraine days, less
severe migraine and increased pain pressure thresholds compared with sham
acupuncture treatment. The improvement of migraine was maintained at the end of
3 month follow-up compared with sham acupuncture group, but not at the end of
one-year follow-up. No severe adverse effect was observed. The trial blinding
was successful.
The authors suggest that acupuncture is an effective and
safe treatment for short-term relief of frequent migraine in adults.
Reference:
Y Wang et al., Acupuncture
for Frequent Migraine: A Randomized, Patient/Assessor Blinded, Controlled Trial
with One-Year Follow-Up. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Volume 2015, Article ID 920353, 14 pages. http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2015/920353/
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