Acupuncture improves school success in children with various conditions, including ADHD

Acupuncture therapy has improved mathematics, social studies and Turkish language in children with various conditions; many of them are with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Children’s development and achievement in the school are affected by many factors including their physical and mental conditions. Helps from health care professionals may assist the children with various conditions to improve their school success.

Based on the reports from the patents of children receiving acupuncture treatment that suggested a decrease in symptoms, researchers in Ulus State Hosptial, Turkey conducted a study to assess the effect of acupuncture on school success in children with various conditions including ADHD (21 cases), enuresis nocturna (8 cases), migraine (2 cases), obesity (2 cases), atopic dermatitis (1 case), alopecia areata (1 case) and Tourette’s syndrome (1 case). Total 36 children aged from 7-16 year old were treated with acupuncture for 20 min/session, twice a week for the first two weeks, then once a week for following 6 weeks. While children with ADHD were treated at acupoint GV20, LI4, HT7, PC6, ST36, LV3, EX-HN-3, children with other conditions were treated with acupuncture according to their symptoms.

The grades in math, social studies and Turkish shown on report cards of the patients before acupuncture and 10-week after acupuncture were compared. It was found that after acupuncture treatment there was a statistically significant improvement in average grades in all three courses compared with the grades obtained before acupuncture. For 21 children with ADHD, there was a statistically increase in school success when their grades were compared. No adverse effect was reported by the end of acupuncture treatment.

The study suggests that acupuncture has a positive effect on learning and recollection. It confirms the results from other studies that acupuncture positively affect memory and ability to learn.

Reference:

Tas D, Acar HV., Does acupuncture have a positive effect on school success in children? J Tradit Chin Med. 2014 Aug;34(4):450-4.   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25185363

Acupuncture makes bedwetting go away

Bedwetting, also known as nocturnal enuresis, refers to a child’s inability to control urination during sleep from infancy but there also cases that go beyond the age of 5. It is a common problem in young children but gets less common as a child gets older. The primary nocturnal enuresis means a child has not yet had a prolonged period of being dry. The secondary nocturnal enuresis is when a child or adult begins wetting again after having stayed dry. Research shows that it may be caused by late development or other factors such as emotional or psychological stress or other underlying conditions. For children with bedwetting positive help from family members in particular parents is very important in determining the outcome of bedwetting management. It is believed that behavioural therapy is helpful in early treatment. Enuresis alarm therapy and medication may be more effective but have many adverse effects.

Acupuncture treatment helps improve primary bedwetting. Recently Egyptian researchers conducted the study to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture on primary bedwetting with 50 patients (age between 9-17 years), who had >3 bedwettings per week during two-week observations and failed to medication and behavioural treatment. All patients were given two sessions of acupuncture treatment; each session was administered once a day for 10 day. Patients were instructed to continue follow-up every three months from beginning the treatment. At the end of 6 months after acupuncture, 38 (76%) patients stopped bedwetting completely. Then 12 patients who were not cured were given further two sessions of acupuncture treatment. One year follow-up showed that 46 patients (92%) were cured for bedwetting.

The data shows acupuncture is very effective in treating bedwetting.

Reference:

El Koumi MA et al., Acupuncture efficacy in the treatment of persistent primary nocturnal enuresis. Arab J Nephrol Transplant. 2013 Sep;6(3):173-6.   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24053744