ProHealth.com
November 14, 2001
According to research presented on November 12, 2001 at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in San Francisco, acupuncture helped relieve symptoms such as pain and depression in women with fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a disorder that causes muscle pain, stiffness, and fatigue. It affects about 2% of Americans, mostly women.
Dr. Daniel Feldman, head of Rheumatology at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and lead author of the research presented, commented, "[Fibromyalgia] patients not getting enough results from drug therapy should try honest acupuncture. It really works."
In the study, the researchers randomly assigned 60 women who suffered from fibromyalgia into three groups. All patients received amitriptyline, a standard pain medication prescribed for fibromyalgia, at bedtime for 16 weeks.
In addition, 20 of the women received a once-a-week, 30-minute acupuncture session, while a second group of 20 underwent a once-a-week, 30-minute sham acupuncture session where they were punctured in areas not believed to have any effect on pain.
The patients were evaluated every month for pain, depression and quality of life measures by healthcare workers who were unaware which treatment the patients were receiving.
The researchers reported that patients who received the authentic acupuncture treatments were the only ones who showed statistically significant improvement on measures of pain, depression and mental health after the first month.
"The intriguing thing is this is not a placebo effect," Dr. Feldman said. "The results lasted for up to 16 weeks, at which time the patients began regressing slightly and would need reinforcement acupuncture sessions," Dr. Feldman said. "It’s not a one-time treatment," he added.
For more information about acupuncture, please visit: http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/about.html
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