Electroacupuncture weekly stimulation alone at specific
acupoints had a long-lasting reduction of blood pressure in hypertensive
patients who did not receive anti-hypertensive medication. According to a
randomized controlled clinical trial that was published in the journal of Medical
Acupuncture recently.
Although conventional anti-hypertensive medication is
able to reduce blood pressure back to normal range in patients with
hypertension, long-term medication of those drugs induce many adverse effects.
This has sparked a growing interest in alternative medical treatment such as
acupuncture.
Recently a group of clinical doctors led by Professor JC
Longhurst in the United State carried out a randomized controlled clinical
trial to assess the effectiveness and underlying mechanism of eletroacupuncture
on hypertension. Sixty-five patients with mild to moderate hypertension, not
receiving any medication, were randomly divided into treatment group (n=33) and
control group (n=32). Patients in treatment group were given electroacupuncture
at acupoints PC5-6+ST36-37, which are thought to have anti-hypertensive
effects, for 30min, once a week for 8 weeks. Patients in control group were
given electroacupuncture at acupoints LI6-7+GB37-39 which are thought to be
irrelevant to blood pressure. Patients were assessed with 24-hour ambulatory
blood pressure monitoring to measure the peak and average systolic BP and
diabolic BP. Biochemical studies undertaken to look the changes in plasma
levels of norepinephrine, renin and aldosterone before and after 8-week
treatment.
At the end of 8-week treatment, patients in treatment
group had a significant decrease in systolic BP and diabolic BP compared with
control group. Four-week follow up found that long-lasting blood pressure-lowering
acupuncture effect was still observed in 14 of 33 patients in treatment group.
Biochemical studies showed plasma level of norepinephrine, renin and
aldosterone, which were initially elevated, was reduced by 41%, 67% and 21%
respectively in those patients.
The study showed that electroacupuncture at specific
acupoints alone was able to reduced both systolic BP and diabolic BP.
Modulation of renin-aldosterone and sympathetic systems were likely linked to long-lasting
actions of electroacupuncture.
Reference
Li P et al., Long-Lasting
Reduction of Blood Pressure by Electroacupuncture in Patients with
Hypertension: Randomized Controlled Trial. MEDICAL ACUPUNCTURE, Volume 27,
Number 4, 2015. http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/acu.2015.1106
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