Acupuncture improves Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder. It is characterized by the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta in the brain. Tremor is usually the first clinical sign of PD, and approximately 70% of PD patients have noticeable tremor at rest and/or during the maintenance of posture. Clinical studies have showed a positive benefit of acupuncture in treating PD tremor. But the mechanism underlying the effects of acupuncture on tremor associated with PD remains unknown.

Brain neuroimaging technologies are new techoniques to study the brain. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated that the basal ganglia (i.e., the pallidum and putamen) are active at the onset of tremor and the cerebellar circuit displays activity that is correlated with the magnitude of the ongoing tremor. Both the basal ganglia and the cerebellum are connected to the motor cortex because the motor cortex is a component of both circuits, indicating the presence of pathology in the cerebello-thalamo-cortical (CTC) circuit in PD patients with tremor.

Animal studies have shown that acupuncture plays a potential neuroprotective and restorative role in neuron survival. Acupuncture effect was reported to be similar to the effects of certain neuroprotective agents with anti-oxidative stress, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptosis effects that improve motor performance in PD patients. Acupuncture activated substantia nigra, basal ganglia, precentral gyrus and prefrontal cortex in PD. Acupuncture could improve the daily life activities and motor symptoms in PD patients with tremor without placebo effect. Acupuncture has specific and nonspecific effects on different brain regions involved in PD tremor, and the motor and cognitive management of movement. The underlying mechanism of the effects of acupuncture on PD tremor may be related to a modification of the CTC circuit, and the modulation of the cognitive functional regions together with CTC circuit contributes to enhancing movement and improving the daily life activities of PD patients.

References
Li Z Front Aging Neurosci. 2018 Jul 5;10:206. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2018.00206. eCollection 2018.

Acupuncture is effective for overactive bladder

Overactive bladder is a condition in which the increased urination frequency with other symptoms are found. The symptoms include more frequent urination in the day and night; urine urgency which is sudden, strong need to urinate and leak urine. It could be painful, when one pass the urine. Acupuncture can help overactive bladder. This affects people’s quality of life. A recent review from journal Medicine (Baltimore) assessed the efficiency and safety of acupuncture for overactive bladder. 794 patients with 10 randomised controlled trials were included in the study. The result has shown that acupuncture could decrease urination frequency and improve quality of life.

References
Zhao Y et al Medicine (Baltimore). 2018 Feb;97(8):e9838. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000009838.

Acupuncture helps reduce pain from slipped disk---research update

The inner portion of the disk can protrude through the outer ring due to injury or weakness. This is known as slipped disk, herniated, or prolapsed disk. Lumber disks are the common site to slip. This causes pain and discomfort at the low back. If the slipped disk compresses the nerves, pain and numbness may occur along the route of the nerve. Acupuncture can help release come symptoms of the slipped the disk, such as reduces pain and numbness. A recent review evaluate evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of slipped lumbar disk. 3503 participants were included in the study. Acupuncture has more pain reduction. The result has shown that acupuncture has better effect than other treatments including lumbar traction, ibuprofen, diclofenac sodium, meloxicam, mannitol plus dexamethasone and mecobalamin, fugui gutong capsule plus ibuprofen, mannitol plus dexamethasone, loxoprofen and huoxue zhitong decoction.

References
Tang S1 et al Acupunct Med. 2018 Apr;36(2):62-70. doi: 10.1136/acupmed-2016-011332. Epub 2018 Mar 1.