Tag: acupuncture research
Acupuncture, Stress Levels and Chronic Intractable Migraine: Af.Es. editioin
This data is from a relatively new patient who has severe, chronic migraine. He is on multiple medications. He takes daily medications, anti-anxiety medications, and tryptans for attacks. The first priority is to try to stabilize his system with acupuncture and avoiding tryptans whenever possible. He is unable to work, so the disability he is…
Read MoreTaVNS and HRV: Case Study Pa.Co. edition
As another chapter in the story of TAVNS (Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation) in the clinic, this patient seems to have the opposite effect from the previous patient. Obviously, there is a lot of “noise” in the system, but he seems to have lower stress levels during treatment when TaVNS is added. I have yet…
Read MoreTaVNS and HRV monitoring: Case Study Ra.Bo. edition
This is an example of how I try use the heart rate variability analysis data to help determine best treatment options. This patient has anxiety and high blood pressure. I wanted to see if the Ear stimulation device (TAVNS) that I use would help lower her stress levels. So if you look below each group…
Read MoreElectroacupuncture Helps Alcohol Withdrawal in Mice
This article contains a few things I did not know. The most basic one is that EtOh withdrawal leads to hypersensitivity to pain. This suggests all sorts of different strategies to alleviate alcohol withdrawal symptoms. In this study, they induced alcohol dependence and compared pain tolerance in Etoh withdrawal mice to Etoh naive mice and…
Read MoreAcupuncture Mechanisms for Asthma
This animal study demonstrates some of the mechanisms behind acupuncture’s effectiveness for asthma including airway inflammation and the hypothalamic-adrenal-pituitary axis. These effects are not unique to asthma, and can help to explain acupuncture’s effectiveness in other immune and inflammatory dysfunction. Neurosci Lett. 2017 Jan 1;636:177-183. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.11.001. Epub 2016 Nov 2. Regulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity…
Read MoreAuriculo Micro Testing of the Ear for Autonomic Activity
I copied a fair amount of this article because the methodology is of interesting to me because I’ve always wondered if the response to needling itself (seconds to minutes) tells us anything about the patient’s susceptibility to treatment or even innate resilience. This study discussed previously, touches on this idea. unfortunately, the researchers did not…
Read MoreImprovement in Cognitive Function with 3 times per week Electroacupuncture for one month
This study shows an improvement in brain activity with 3 times a week, low frequency electroacupuncture at Ki6 and Bl 62. (Acupuncturists will recognize both of those points as opening points for “Special” meridians.) The P300 is an actual measure of brain activity which correlates with cognitive activity, not a questionnaire or memory cognitive test….
Read MoreModulation of brainstem activity and connectivity by respiratory-gated auricular vagal afferent nerve stimulation in migraine patients.
This study combines two key areas I’m interested in. One is using auricular vagal stimulation, and the other is migraine. Napadow has been a colleague of mine for over 10 years and he does brilliant work. He’s an expert in brain imaging and fMRI. Frankly, I’ve hesitated to use ear stim in migraine patients because…
Read MoreAcupuncture and Weight Loss
(I link to this with caveats. As I’ve said many times over the years, if acupuncture was the answer for weight loss, I’d be a billionaire. But, nonetheless, to be thorough, I’m linking to this study since it’s in the news.) The School of Chinese Medicine (SCM) of Hong Kong Baptist University recently completed a…
Read MoreClinical Case Studies: PMS and Harris Protocol Ja.Le.
I’ve written about Dr. Richard Harris’ protocol for chemotherapy fatigue. I have been experimenting a bit to see if what effect the protocol done with needles has on patients. This case study is of a patient who is in her late 40/50’s and approaching menopause and has incredible mood swings with PMS. Acupuncture helps her unlike…
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