Recently an article summarized our understanding about
acupuncture to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The article was published
in journal of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration.
Pre-clinical model studies showed that acupuncture
stimulation improved motor neuron survival and delayed loss of motor
performance and this was accompanied by reduced inflammatory reaction in acupuncture
treated group compared with control group. However, there were many flaws in
the designs of studies, including small sample size, non-blind raters.
Clinical studies from separate three groups revealed that
effect of acupuncture treatment varied from achieving significant improvement
in motor function in some patients to minor alleviation in other patients. However,
there was incomplete detail regarding the ALS diagnoses, lack of a control group,
failure to use validated ALS outcome measures in those reports.
Nonetheless, some evidence suggests that acupuncture can
at least alleviate two common ALS symptoms: pain and spasticity with little
adverse effect.
Reference
The ALSUntangled
Group (2015) ALSUntangled No. 28: Acupuncture, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
and Frontotemporal Degeneration, 16:3-4, 286-289, DOI:10.3109/21678421.2015.1039240. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/21678421.2016.1172818
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