Literature review about the effects of acupuncture

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Annotated Bibliography On the effects of Acupuncture

Meron kassahun

Professor Terresa Henning

Southwest Minnesota state university

Annotated Bibliography

Wu, S. Y., Lu, C. N., Chung, C. J., Kuo, C. E., Sheen, J. M., Hsueh, T. P., ... & Bi, K. W. (2019). Therapeutic effects of acupuncture plus fire needle versus acupuncture alone in lateral epicondylitis: A randomized case–control pilot study. Medicine, 98(22).

In this article, the authors compared the efficacy of acupuncture both on the short-term and on the intermediate term of acupuncture alone and that of acupuncture with fire needle therapy for the treatment of Lateral epicondylitis (LE). In their study, the authors carried out the research on patients with cases of LE, with 21 of them being subjected to plus-fire on the other 17 being subjected to acupuncture only. They then issued questionnaires immediately after the treatment and three months after the treatment. The authors established that acupuncture plus fire was more effective in the short term. Overall, twelve patients reported experiencing improvements in the immediate term. The article is very important for this study as it will help to understand the effectiveness of acupuncture as a form of treatment. It is also important in understanding the different effects that different forms of acupuncture have both in the short term and in the intermediate term.

Sun, N., Tu, J. F., Lin, L. L., Li, Y. T., Yang, J. W., Shi, G. X., ... & Liu, C. Z. (2019). Correlation between acupuncture dose and effectiveness in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review. Acupuncture in Medicine, 37(5), 261-267.

The authors explain that Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of disabilities around the world, with the knee joint being the most affected part of the body. The authors seek to establish whether the relieving of acupuncture is related to the dose for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). The research method that they employed was systematic literature from different databases. Randomized control trials (RCTs) were also included for patients diagnosed with KOA, with some being treated with real acupuncture and others being subjected to sham treatment. Results indicated that people who had received real acupuncture had experienced better stimulation and improved conditions than those subjected to sham treatment. Sham treatment was a placebo. These results are very useful for the research as they indicate that the effectiveness of acupuncture is dose-dependent. The reason is that the people who received real treatment experienced more relief from pain than those who received placebo.

Dimitrova, A., Murchison, C., & Oken, B. (2017). Acupuncture for the treatment of peripheral neuropathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 23(3), 164-179.

Dimitrova, Murchison, and Oken exemplify that Peripheral Neuropathy (PN) is mainly characterized by damage to the peripheral nervous system due to dysfunction. They therefore, examined the effectiveness of acupuncture for the treatment of PN and other neuropathic conditions. A systematic literature review was employed, and researchers revised papers from different databases. The evaluated individuals were only those above 18 years. Data obtained was reviewed by two neurologists well experienced in acupuncture. From the review, the authors established that acupuncture effectively treats diabetic neuropathy and Bell’s palsy. Acupuncture was also found to have some positive impacts in the treatment of HIV-related neuropathy. This research will serve to understand the effects of acupuncture on different types of neuropathies. The study also contains useful information on the adverse effects that may arise as a result of acupuncture treatment. Such include minor bruises from eh needles and discomfort as the needles were being inserted and pained during the process.

Manheimer, E., Cheng, K., Wieland, L. S., Shen, X., Lao, L., Guo, M., & Berman, B. M. (2018). Acupuncture for hip osteoarthritis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (5).

The papers describe how acupuncture works in the body. The authors detail that acupuncture works by stimulation of the nervous system to release neurotransmitters that suppress the pain. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture in improving pain among people with hip osteoarthritis. The research employs systematic literature, and 6 trials among 413 people were identified. The participants were aged between 61 and 67 years of age. The authors then compared the outcomes of real acupuncture and the placebo. The study established that there was little to no difference in effect between people who received real acupuncture versus those who received a placebo. People who received true acupuncture showed little evidence of pain reduction with just a 2 points more improvement on a scale of 0-100 than for the placebo. This study is of importance as it helps to understand the potential of both true acupuncture and sham acupuncture for treatment.

MacPherson, H., Vertosick, E. A., Foster, N. E., Lewith, G., Linde, K., Sherman, K. J., ... & Vickers, A. J. (2017). The persistence of the effects of acupuncture after a course of treatment: a meta-analysis of patients with chronic pain. Pain, 158(5), 784.

In this research, the author acknowledges the uncertainties regarding the possibility of an acupuncture treatment to produce long-term effects after treatment. The authors therefore aimed at determining the trajectory of pain scores that acupuncture has. Systematic literature was employed in the process and from a large dataset that included 29 trials alongside 17,922 patients. The study encompasses various conditions, including knee osteoarthritis, musculoskeletal pain and migraine. The meta-analytic technique was employed in the determination of scores over a period of time. About 90% of the positive impacts were sustained for 12 months for the real treatment. For the placebo, the results were found to reduce by 50% over 12 months. Therefore, this study is important in determining whether the results of acupuncture can be sustained and for how long.

Zhang, N., Houle, T., Hindiyeh, N., & Aurora, S. K. (2020). Systematic review: acupuncture vs standard pharmacological therapy for migraine prevention. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 60(2), 309-317.

The article states that standard pharmacological treatments used for migraines have several shortcomings. The article therefore, seeks to compare how effective acupuncture is compared to the conventional pharmacological migraine treatment. Systematic literature was used in a custom-designed strategy that searched for databases. 706 search results were done, and 7 clinical trials alongside 1430 participants were identified. Some of the results indicated acupuncture to have more relief than the standard treatments. Acupuncture was also found to have fewer side effects compared to the pharmaceuticals drugs used for migraine relief. For the study, this article is very important in comparing the desirable effects that arise from acupuncture as compared to the standard treatments. It will also offer insight into the side effects that both of the treatments have and compare.