Effect of Acupressure, Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Women With Pregnancy-Related Anxiety and Previous Depression: A Preliminary Study

Eastern Integrative Medicine and Ancient Sound Healing Treatments for Stress: Recent Research Advances

Eastern integrative medicine includes centuries-old practices and treatments which have quite recently garnered significant attention in Western society. Numerous traditional medicine techniques such as yoga, sound healing, Qigong, Tai Chi Chuan, and acupuncture have recently been studied in relation to their potential for reduction of human chronic stress, a widespread societal health problem. These ancient treatments present considerable potential for stress reduction globally. Thus, the present authors recommend that substantial resources be devoted to the study of these practices as potential tools for stress reduction and improvement in public health.

Use of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Patients Diagnosed with Postpartum Depression: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Postpartum depression (PPD) is one of most common postnatal complications, affecting approximately 10%-15% of women after childbirth annually. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been gaining popularity as the choice of treatment for PPD in Taiwan. Hence, our aim was to analyze the utilization of TCM among PPD patients in Taiwan. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a random sample of one million beneficiaries selected from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database. We identified patients with PPD who had received either TCM treatment or non-TCM treatment from the database during 2000-2012. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with the use of TCM. A total of 653 patients with PPD were enrolled. The majority of patients with PPD were 26-30 years old, lived in a highly urbanized area of Taipei, had a monthly income <20,000 NT$, and were private enterprise employees. Around 52.7% of PPD patients had the motivation to seek TCM services. Younger women, who resided in central and southern Taiwan and who had used TCM one year before PPD diagnosis, were more likely to use TCM services. PPD patients who underwent TCM treatment had a lower overall medical expenditure than non-TCM users. Most TCM users chose simple Chinese herbal medicine. The coexisting factors that made PPD patients to seek TCM services were respiratory or oral infections. We demonstrated the characteristics of those that seek TCM for PPD, which may provide useful insights to health care providers towards resource allocation.

The Neuroscience of Nonpharmacological Traditional Chinese Therapy (NTCT) for Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Depression is a common disease affecting a large number of people across the world. Many researchers have focused on treatment for depression based on Western scientific approaches, but research based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) interventions, studying its clinical effectiveness and the underlying mechanisms involved, has been limited. The aim of this review is to conduct a pioneering systematic review with meta-analysis of existing studies that investigate the neuroscience basis of nonpharmacological traditional Chinese therapy (NTCT).

Methods

Both English (Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO) and Chinese (China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)) databases were searched from inception to October 2018. The effects of NTCT on major depressive disorder, brain activity, and neurophysiological biomarker related outcomes were extracted. Study quality was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. The effect size of each study was reported by the mean difference of change scores.

Results

Six of twelve eligible studies showed that there was a significant improvement in favor of acupuncture in depressive symptoms (SMD -0.69, 95% CI -1.09 to -0.28, p=0.002, I ² = 73%, p< 0.0008). Based on the available evidence, NTCT including acupuncture, Qigong, and Tai Chi was found to possibly improve brain metabolites, brain activity, and immune and endocrine systems in patients with major depressive disorder.

Conclusions

Acupuncture could effectively relieve depressive syndromes. The clinical effects of acupuncture might be attributable to their influence on three proposed pathways, namely, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the locus coeruleus (LC)-immunity pathway, and the negative feedback loop of the hippocampus. Nevertheless, conclusions are limited due to the small number of studies included and the low-quality of the study designs. In the future, a cross-sectional study is needed to test the proposed plausible pathways. PROSPERO registration number is CRD42017080937.

Impact of Self-Acupressure on Co-Occurring Symptoms in Cancer Survivors

Background

Cancer survivors with fatigue often experience depressive symptoms, anxiety, and pain. Previously, we reported that self-acupressure improved fatigue; however, its impact on other co-occurring symptoms and their involvement in treatment action has not been explored.

Methods

Changes in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and pain were examined prior to and following two formulas of self-acupressure and usual care using linear mixed models in 288 women from a previously reported clinical trial. Participants were categorized by random assignment into one of three groups: 1) relaxing acupressure, 2) stimulating acupressure, or 3) usual care. Moderators investigated were body mass index, age, depressive symptoms, anxiety, sleep and pain, and mediators were change in these symptoms.

Results

Following treatment, depressive symptoms improved statistically significantly for the relaxing acupressure group (41.5%) compared with stimulating acupressure (25%) and usual care (7.7%). Both acupressure groups were associated with greater improvements in anxiety than usual care, but only relaxing acupressure was associated with greater reductions in pain severity, and only stimulating acupressure was associated with greater reductions in pain interference. There were no statistically significant moderators of sleep quality, anxiety, or depressive symptoms. Fatigue statistically significantly moderated pain, and age statistically significantly modified fatigue. Changes in depressive symptoms and sleep quality statistically significantly mediated the relationship between relaxing acupressure and usual care on fatigue; however, the effect was small.

Conclusions

Acupressure was associated with greater improvements than usual care in anxiety, pain, and symptoms of depression in breast cancer survivors with troublesome fatigue. These findings warrant further evaluation in suitably controlled randomized trials.

The Effectiveness of Electrical Acupuncture Stimulation in Reducing Levels of Self-reported Anxiety of Lung Cancer Patients during Palliative Care: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

Lung cancer is a serious threat to human health and life worldwide. Anxiety is common amongst palliative care patients with lung cancer and adversely affects quality of life. Acupuncture is an effective and safe treatment method used for the treatment of depressive mood status. We aimed to assess the influence of electrical acupuncture stimulation on self-reported anxiety in palliative care among patients with lung cancer.

METHODS

This pilot study had an experimental, 3-group, research plan. A total of 188 participants were enrolled from the Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, China from 2014-2015. This pilot study had an experimental, 3-group, research plan. In TEAS group, participants received standardized palliative care and electrical acupuncture stimulation in Zusanli, Sanyinjiao and Hegu acu-points. Group MS received standardized palliative care and muscle stimulation nearby nonacupoint. Controlled group received standardized palliative care. The patients maintained their assigned acupuncture stimulation for 7 days. Demographic Instrument, Karnofsky Performance Scale Index, SF-16 health questionnaire and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) were used.

RESULTS

The mean SAS scores in TEAS Group before and after electrical intervention in palliative care intervention were 31.17±7.55,34.58±13.98 and 27.86±6.73, (P=0.00) QoL score showed elevation from 57.13 in 8th day to 60.12 in 28th day, rising further to 5%. Comfort Score showed continuous elevation trend for 28 days.

CONCLUSION

Electric acupuncture stimulation could reduce the anxiety of patients, promote rehabilitation and increase the quality of life among patients with lung cancer in palliative care.