Acupuncture Reduces Post-Surgery Pain While Reducing Need for Pain Drugs
Acupuncture Reduces Post-Surgery Pain While Reducing Need for Pain Drugs
by David Gutierrez, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Acupuncture may reduce the pain experienced by patients after surgery, and decrease their need for pain-killing drugs, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina and presented at an American Society for Anesthesiology conference in San Francisco.
Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine in which thin needles are inserted into certain key (predetermined) points in the body. There is evidence of the practice existing in China anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.
"The use of acupuncture is still very under-appreciated," said Dr. Tong-Joo Gan, vice chairman of Duke's anesthesiology department. "Western doctors are typically not trained [in acupuncture], and they really are not familiar with how it works. I think practitioners such as surgeons and anesthesiologists need to have an open mind."
Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 15 different clinical trials in which patients had received acupuncture treatment either before or after an operation. The analysis showed that regardless of whether acupuncture was done before or after the surgery, such patients experienced significantly less pain after their operation than patients who had not had acupuncture. These same patients also used less pain medication, and as a result they suffered fewer negative side effects, such as nausea and vomiting.
Patients who had not received acupuncture were 1.5 times more likely to experience drug-related nausea, 1.6 times more likely to experience drug-related dizziness and 3.5 times more likely to experience drug-related urinary retention problems.
According to the National Institutes of Health, studies have also shown acupuncture to reduce the nausea caused by chemotherapy.
Gan believes that acupuncture should become a common part of surgery. "I do it all the time," he said. "You give patients the acupuncture about half an hour before surgery and continue during surgery. It can reduce post-operative pain."
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Acupuncture Offers Benefits in Alleviating Breast Cancer Treatment Side-Effects
by: Dave Gabriele, citizen journalist
(NaturalNews) A 2008 American study, which appeared in the September issue of The International Journal of Radiation Oncology, examined the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating women coping with the side effects of conventional breast cancer medicine. Eleanor Walker, M.D., a radiation oncologist at the Henry Ford Hospital Department of Radiation Oncology in Detroit, led a team of researchers to compare acupuncture treatment with the common anti-estrogen treatment used to control breast cancer therapy side effects. The side effects, such as hot flashes and depression, affect about 80% of women treated for breast cancer and are usually treated by the pharmaceutical anti-depressant venlafaxine (Effexor). Many breast cancer patients refuse venlafaxine because of its own set of negative side effects.
A combination of Chinese herbal medicine and laparoscopy is the most effective way to treat endometrial ovarian cysts and increase reproductive function.
A study was carried out in Beijing to compare 3 different treatment methods for endometriosis. A group of 152 women with endometrial cysts, were divided into 3 groups: a combined Chinese herbal medicine and laparoscopy group (combination group), a Chinese herbal medicine only group, and a Danazol group. The clinical effectiveness, side effects and reproductive hormones were then compared. The shrinkage and disappearance rate of the cysts, as well as the pregnancy rate were highest in the combination group, and there were few side effects noted. The study concluded that way to treat endometrial ovarian cysts, increasing reproductive function a combination of laparoscopy and Chinese herbal medicine is an effective and causing very few side effects.
Wu Y Hua L (Clinical study on endometrial ovarian cysts treated by integrated laparoscopy and Chinese herbal medicine) Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi, 2000 March, 20 (3): 183-6.
