Acupuncture helps improve chronic fatigue reported by a clinical trial

Acupuncture therapy improved fatigue in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and idiopathic chronic fatigue (ICF). A multiple, nonblinded, randomized controlled clinical trial reported the data in journal of Trials recently.

Reports showed that chronic fatigue syndrome and idiopathic fatigue have negative impact on health, happiness and productivity. Patients with either CFS or ICF felt their quality of life being degraded. The illness is a huge burden to the society. A report in 2008 estimated that the total annual cost of CFS or ICF to the society in the United States was extensive and approached $24.0 billion.

A group of scientists in Korea assessed the effectiveness of acupuncture on patients with either CFS or ICF in a clinical trial. Patients in acupuncture group were treated at acupoints GB20, GV20, BL11, BL13, BL15, BL18, BL20 and BL23 for 15 min a day, 2 or 3 times a week, 10 sessions within 4 weeks. Patients in control group only received normal care. Outcome measures include Fatigue Severity Scale, a short form of the Stress Response Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Numeric Rating Scale, and the EuroQol-5 Dimension.

It was found that acupuncture significantly improved all outcome measures, in particular Fatigue Severity Scale, the primary outcome measure, at 5 weeks and Stress Response Inventory scale 13 weeks after treatment. There were no treatment-related serious adverse effects.

The authors stated that the quality of this study was improved by performing a pragmatic clinic trial which evaluates whether interventions work in everyday clinical practice settings to better reflect real clinic situation through multi-institutional clinical trial design. This implies the results of the study were more reliable than other trial settings.

Reference:

Kim JE et al., Acupuncture for chronic fatigue syndrome and idiopathic chronic fatigue: a multicenter, nonblinded, randomized controlled trial. Trials (2015) 16:314.   http://www.trialsjournal.com/content/16/1/314

Acupuncture helps improve fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis resistant to amantadine

Acupuncture treatment improved fatigue symptom in multiple sclerosis patients who are resistant to drug amantadine, according to a report published in journal Acupunct Medicine.

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of multiple sclerosis that has significant negative impact on the quality of life of patients with the condition. After long term medication such as amantadine which is the main drug used in fatigue treatment in multiple sclerosis, many patients developed resistant to the drug. So alternative therapy is urgently needed for them to keep the symptoms under control.

Doctors in Iran conducted a clinical study to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture on fatigue of patients with multiple sclerosis resistant to amantadine. Twenty patients who were resistant to amantadine were given acupuncture treatment 30 mins a day, on every other day, in total 12 sessions within 4 weeks. Changes in fatigue were assessed by Fatigue Severity Scale before and after treatment. At the end of acupuncture treatment 5 of 20 patients who were resistant to amantadine responded to acupuncture plus amantadine treatment. The scores of Fatigue Severity Scale were significantly reduced within patients resistant to amantadine.

Authors suggest that acupuncture is effective in treating fatigue in proportion of patients with fatigue resistant to amantadine treatment.

Reference:

Foroughipour M et al., Amantadine and the place of acupuncture in the treatment of fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis: an observational study. Acupunct Med2013;31:27–30.    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23151355

Acupuncture is very effective in treating chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, is characterized by long-term disabling tiredness, often accompanied with muscle pain, joint pain, headache, impaired concentration and sleep disturbance. People with CFS often feel so tired they can’t do even half of their normal daily activities and the feeling does not go away, even with more rest. CFS affects more women than men and is the most common in young and mid-aged adults. CFS can affects children as well, usually between the ages of 13 and 15. CFS may last from a few months to many years. Symptoms sometimes may come and go. The cause of CFS is not clear, but immune system response, viral infection, hormone imbalance and psychiatric problems may be responsible. There is no specific medication for CFS and antidepressant is prescribed for some cases. The prevalent treatments include changes in lifestyle, psychiatric therapy, and activity management.

Acupuncture is the most recommended alternative therapy for CFS. Acupuncture invigorates body’s energy, qi and rebalances body’s systems including immune system. A clinical study of 80 patients with CFS in China reported that stimulation at acupoints Qihai (CV 6), Guanyuan (CV 4), Hegu (LI 4), Taichong (LR 3), Sanyinjiao (SP 6) and Zusanli (ST 36), once daily, ten-day as a session and two sessions in total, invigorated energy qi and significantly improved CFS symptoms. This is accompanied by improving immune function via the regulation of the ratios of among CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells.  

Reference:

Ling JY et al., Impacts on chronic fatigue syndrome of qi deficiency syndrome and T cell subgroups in patients treated with acupuncture at selective time. Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2013 Dec;33(12):1061-4.   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24617226