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Recent Research |
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The Effect of Acupuncture on Anxiety in Maternally Separated Rats |
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Acupuncture for Pregnant Women with Pelvic Girdle Pain |
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Dan Zhi Xiao Yao Yin Combined with Auricular-Point-Pressing for Treatment of Optic Atrophy |
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Treatment of AIDS Patients with Chinese Herbs QuDu ZengNing Capsule |
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The Effect of Acupuncture on Anxiety in Maternally Separated Rats Park HJ, et al. Department of Meridian and Acupuncture, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 1 Hoegidong, Dongdaemoongu, Seoul 130-701, South Korea. Studies have suggested that rats deprived from their mothers display anxiogenic-like behavior when exposed to stress in later life. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a compound that is involved in the regulation of various physiological functions such as the expression of anxiety. Female Wistar rat pups were separated from their mothers for 3 hours daily from postnatal days 3 (P3) to 14 (P14). Acupuncture groups were treated with acupuncture at Shenmen (HT7) or Zusanli (ST36) on alternate days from P50 to P62. Their anxiety-like behavior was evaluated using an elevated plus-maze at P62, and then NPY immunohistochemistry in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) was performed. Rats exposed to maternal separation (MS) were less likely to explore the open arms of the plus-maze compared to control rats that were not exposed to MS. Among maternally separated groups, the percentage of time spent in the open arms was significantly increased in the HT7 acupuncture group, but not the ST36 acupuncture group, compared to MS group. In accordance with this behavior, the numbers of NPY-immunoreactive cells in the BLA were lower in the MS group compared to the control group. Among maternally separated groups, the numbers of NPY-immunoreactive cells in the BLA were significantly higher in the HT7 acupuncture group, but not higher in the ST36 acupuncture group, compared to MS group. In conclusion, these findings suggest that acupuncture treatment might reduce anxiety-like behavior in adult rats following maternal separation by modulating the NPY system in the amygdala. Acupuncture for Pregnant Women with Pelvic Girdle Pain Elden H, Ladfors L, et al. Perinatal Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute for the Health of Women and Children, Sahlgrenska Academy, East Hospital, 41685 Gothenburg, Sweden. A recent randomized, single blind and controlled study was conducted in order to compare the effects of standard treatment, standard treatment with acupuncture, and standard treatment with stabilizing exercises for pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. 386 pregnant women with pelvic girdle pain were randomly assigned to three groups: for six weeks with standard treatment (n=130), standard treatment plus acupuncture (n= 125), or standard treatment plus stabilizing exercises (n= 131). A visual analogue scale was used to measure the pain and an independent examiner did an assessment of the severity of the pain before and after treatment. After treatment, the stabilizing exercise group had less pain than the standard group in the morning and in the evening. The acupuncture group also had less pain than the standard treatment group in the morning and in the evening. However, the acupuncture group had less pain in the evening than the stabilizing exercise group. Attenuation of pelvic girdle pain as assessed by the independent examiner was greatest in the acupuncture group. The study concluded that acupuncture and stabilizing exercises were effective complements to standard treatment for the management of pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. Also, acupuncture was superior to stabilizing exercises in this study. Dan Zhi Xiao Yao Yin Combined with Auricular-Point-Pressing for Treatment of Optic Atrophy Yang H., Xuzhou Municipal TCM Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221003, China. A study was conducted in order to evaluate the therapeutic effect of Dan Zhi Xiao Yao Yin (Decoction of Moutan Bark and Capejasmine) combined with auricular-point-pressing therapy in the treatment of optic atrophy. Visual acuity and visual field were observed in the 51 cases (58 eyes) from the treatment group that were treated with Dan Zhi Xiao Yao Yin combined with auricular-point-pressing treatment and the 43 cases (49 eyes) from the control group that were treated with routine western drugs at the end of the trial (60 days). The effective rates of increase in visual acuity obtained in the treatment and the control groups were 79.3% and 44.89% respectively and enlargement in visual field were 61.9% and 22.6% respectively. Statistical analysis showed that there were significant differences between two groups (P<0.05). In conclusion, the beneficial effect of Dan Zhi Xiao Yao Yin combined with auricular-point -pressing therapy in increasing the visual acuity and enlarging the visual field was superior to that of the routine western drugs. Treatment of AIDS Patients with Chinese Herbs QuDu ZengNing Capsule Li ZL, et al. Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100022, China. The objuective of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of QuDu ZengNing Capsule on AIDS. QuDu ZengNing Capsule is a capsule containing an extract from four Chinese medicinal herbs. One thousand AIDS patients were treated, among them 60 patients were clinically observed weekly. The patients were treated with 4 capsules t.i.d for 6 months. Routine blood tests, liver, heart and kidney function, X-ray, CD4, CD8 cells were examined before and after treatment at the 1st, 3rd, and 6th month. After evaluating the results of these tests and examining the patients, it was noted that the symptoms were improved in most of the patients, the CD4 cells increased from 115.0 to 295.2/ul and the viral load (RNA copies/ml) in most patients reduced markedly or maintained at the same level. The researchers noted that these data indicated that QuDu ZengNing Capsule was effective for treatment of AIDS patients. |
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April,
2005
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