ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture analgesia (AA) compared with combined spinal-epidural anesthesia (CSEA) for labor pain reliefandlaboroutcomes. METHODS We evaluated 131 primiparous women who received respiratory guidance during maternal uterine contractions and received either AA (n = 43), CSEA (n = 45), or no additional treatment (control, n = 43). The groups were compared regarding visual analog scale (VAS) scores for abdominal...Weiterlesen

ABSTRACT Background Labor pain is multifactorial, complex, and intense due to various physiologic and psychosocial changes. Pharmacologic interventions are the most effective analgesia but have significant side-effects. Acupuncture offers benefits in labor analgesia with relatively low side-effects. Battlefield acupuncture (BFA), a subset of acupuncture, has shown effectiveness in rapid pain relief. This article reports the case of a primigravid patient who received BFA for pain...Weiterlesen

ABSTRACT Background Threatened miscarriage is a common complication of early pregnancy increasing the risk of miscarriage or premature labour. Currently there is limited evidence to recommend any biomedical pharmacological or self-care management, resulting in a ‘watchful waiting’ approach. The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of offering acupuncture as a therapeutic treatment for women presenting with threatened miscarriage. Methods A mixed methods...Weiterlesen

Die Autoren haben Unterschiede im Verlauf der Nachgeburtsperiode nach postpartaler Akupunktur des Foramens inductorium viscerum, R16 (huangshu) (AT) im Vergleich zur prophylaktischen Oxytocingabe untersucht. Dazu wurde bei 262 Gebärenden unmittelbar nach der Geburt der Akupunkt R16 genadelt, eine Vergleichsgruppe von 270 Frauen erhielt unmittelbar nach der Geburt intravenös 3 I.E. Syntocinon und bei einer Kontrollgruppe mit 265 Frauen, bei denen keine Zeichen einer verstärkten postpartalen...Weiterlesen

A phase II clinical trial of a Chinese herbal decoction, Dang Gui Bu Xue Tang (DBT, Dang Gui Decoction to Tonify the Blood), has shown that it can significantly improve physical and psychological scores and significantly reduce vasomotor symptoms for post-menopausal women. A randomised, double-blind, multiple-dose escalation trial was performed in 60 post-menopausal women who were experiencing severe hot flushes and night sweats. Participants were...Weiterlesen

A Chinese research group has shown that treatment with Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) can prevent the recurrence of endometriosis and improve the conception rate in women who have undergone surgery for endometriosis. Two hundred and four patients were randomly divided into two groups. Patients in the CHM group were treated using one of three types of CHMs, based on individual syndrome differentiation. Patients in the...Weiterlesen

UK authors have carried out a systematic review of the use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for endometriosis-related pain and infertility. Database searches revealed 100 relevant studies, but only two Chinese RCTs were deemed of high enough quality for analysis. Meta-analysis of the pooled results involving a total of 158 women concluded that administration of CHM after laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis has effects comparable to...Weiterlesen

ABSTRACT AIM Insulin sensitivity is ~40% lower in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) than in controls. We tested the hypothesis that 5 weeks of electroacupuncture treatment improves glucose regulation and androgen levels in overweight/obese women with PCOS. MATERIAL AND METHODS Seventeen women with PCOS, aged 18 to 38 years, with a body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2 and diagnosed with PCOS were included in this experimental and feasibility...Weiterlesen

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Acupuncture can be useful for reducing vasomotor symptoms (VMS) in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, according to results of a systematic review and meta-analysis. „I was impressed with the notable improvements in VMS frequency, severity, and several quality-of-life measurements with acupuncture compared with no acupuncture,” Dr. Deanna Befus from Wake Forest School of Medicine’s Center for Integrative Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina,...Weiterlesen

A meta-analysis from Taiwanese authors confirms that acupuncture can improve symptoms in women experiencing menopause. Twelve studies (869 participants) met the authors’ inclusion criteria. The results of the analysis showed that acupuncture significantly reduced the frequency and severity of hot flushes. In addition, acupuncture was shown to significantly improve psychological, somatic, urogenital symptoms and vasomotor symptoms. Acupuncture’s beneficial effects on hot flush frequency and severity...Weiterlesen