OBJECTIVE:
To determine the role of acupuncture therapy in treating experimental gastric ulcers in rats.
METHODS:
Twenty-eight adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (pre-acupuncture group; acupuncture group; para distance-acupuncture group; and control group), and pre-acupuncture, para distance acupuncture, and control groups received 5 µL acetic acid (200 mL/L HAc) injection after the same course of electroacupuncture (EA) treatment (4 Hz, 0.6 mA, 0.45 ms, 45 min for 4 d). The rats in these three groups recovered within 4 d. The acupuncture group received EA therapy for 4 d, after HAc injection. The stomach was dissected to compare the pathological structures of ulcers. Also, c-Fos activation in the nuclei of the solitary tract (NTS) was observed under a microscope after regular immunohistochemistry staining of brain stem sections.
Acupuncture and oral ulcer
RESULTS:
The number of ulcers was different among the four groups, especially between the control group and para distance-acupuncture group or pre-acupuncture group. In the latter group, the number of ulcers was much less. The gastric ulcer area was consistent with the
histopathological results, indicating that pre-acupuncture had an obvious therapeutic effect on gastric ulcers. Acupuncture had a very modest effect and para distance acupuncture had no effect on gastric ulcers. No therapeutic effect was found in the control group. Fos-Li neurons in NTS induced by noxious gastric ulcer showed a significant difference between pre-acupuncture and control groups.
Research Two
OBJECTIVE:
To compare the therapeutic effects of acupuncture and routine western medicine is a recurrent oral ulcer of the type of accumulation of heat in the heart and spleen.
METHODS:
Seventy-four cases were randomly divided into 2 groups. The acupuncture group of 37 cases was treated with acupuncture at Tongli (HT 5), Gongsun (SP 4), Neiting (ST 44), Hegu (11 4), etc. The control group of 37 cases was treated with VitB12, VitC. Their therapeutic effects were compared.
RESULTS:
The total effective rate was 83.8% in the treatment group and 48.6% in the control group with a very significant difference between the two groups (P<0.01).
CONCLUSION:
The therapeutic effect of acupuncture is significantly better than that of the control group, and acupuncture is an effective therapy for recurrent oral ulcers of type of accumulation of heat in the heart and spleen.
Research Three
OBJECTIVE:
To find out an effective method for the treatment of oral ulcers in the premenstrual period.
METHODS:
Seventy-nine cases were randomly divided into a treatment group (n=48) and a control group (n=31). They were treated by acupuncture and moxibustion plus Chinese medicine and simple Chinese medicine, respectively. Their therapeutic effects were observed.
RESULTS:
The effective rate was 91.7% in the treatment group and 64.5% in the control group with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION:
Acupuncture and moxibustion combined with Chinese medicine have a better therapeutic effect on an oral ulcer in the premenstrual period.
Research Four
ACUPUNCTURE: REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF REPORTS ON CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIALS
Epigastric pain is a common symptom in diseases of the stomach, including peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastric spasm. Acupuncture provides satisfactory relief of epigastric pain—significantly better than injections of anisodamine or morphine plus atropine, as shown in randomized controlled trials
ACUPUNCTURE: REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF
REPORTS ON CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIALS