Stimulated by Hwang et al 2025.[1] A dopamine molecule – carbon (yellow), oxygen (red), nitrogen (blue) and hydrogen (gold). PD – Parkinson’s diseaseIPD – idiopathic Parkinson’s diseaseNHIS – national health insurance serviceICD – international classification of diseasesIRB – institutional review boardc – circa (from Latin and written before a number to mean it is an … Continue reading Acupuncture IPD and mortality
Author: bmasmd
Acupuncture, haemodialysis and depression
Inspired by Yu et al 2025.[1] Photo by jason hu on Pexels.comThis island is at the top of Poyang Lake, approximately 7km below where it opens into the Yangtze River just east of Jiujiang. IF – impact factorHAM-D – Hamilton depression rating scaleWHOQOL-100 – World Health Organisation quality of life 100MCID – minimum important clinical … Continue reading Acupuncture, haemodialysis and depression
EA for nocturia 2025
Inspired by Liou et al 2025.[1] AI generated image. EA – electroacupunctureMA – manual acupunctureIF – impact factorMSKCC – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterADT – androgen deprivation therapyIPSS – international prostate symptom scoreMCID – minimal clinically important difference – key to acronyms This week we are sticking with the urinary system, and I have chosen … Continue reading EA for nocturia 2025
Acupuncture for ARC 2025
Inspired by Cao et al 2025.[1] Photo by Anton Nikolov on Unsplash. ARC – acute renal colicRCT – randomised controlled trialIF – impact factorIM – intramuscularUTI – urinary tract infectionVAS – visual analogue score (usually 10cm horizontal line with no pain or worst pain at each end)NRS – numerical rating scale (11-point digital verbal scale from 0 to … Continue reading Acupuncture for ARC 2025
Ferroptosis acupuncture and VCID
Inspired by Zhang et al and Yang et al 2025.[1,2] Tianjin Eye on the Hai river. Photo by Vishnu Panday on Pexels.com VCID – vascular cognitive impairment and dementiaIF – impact factorVCIND – vascular cognitive impairment no dementiaJIA – juvenile idiopathic arthritisRAS – family of genes that encode small GTPase proteins (literally short for RAt … Continue reading Ferroptosis acupuncture and VCID
Buccal acupuncture for POD 2025
Inspired by Fang et al and Zhong et al 2025.[1,2] Figure 1A from Fang et al illustrating a body map on the face.[1] POD – post-operative deliriumBIS – bispectral indexEEG – electroencephalogram – key to acronyms This week I am introducing a relatively new microsystem called buccal acupuncture. It caught my eye twice in the … Continue reading Buccal acupuncture for POD 2025
EA for OAB 2025
Inspired by Lv et al 2025.[1] Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com EA – electroacupunctureOAB – overactive bladderVES – vaginal electrical stimulationTTNS – transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulationTENS – transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationTEAS – transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulationPTNS – percutaneous tibial nerve stimulationOABSS – overactive bladder symptom scoreMCID – minimal clinically important differenceSNM – sacral neuromodulation – … Continue reading EA for OAB 2025
Acupressure plus TENS in labour
Inspired by Gu et al 2025.[1] Photo by 东旭 王 on Unsplash. TENS – transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationTEAS – transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulationSW-CRT – stepped wedge cluster randomised trialLDU – labour and delivery unitCEQ – childbirth experience questionnaire – key to acronyms This is a large trial from Shanghai evaluating two non-pharmacological approaches to treating … Continue reading Acupressure plus TENS in labour
APA in cLBP 2025
Inspired by Kawi et al 2025.[1] Vaccaria hispanica seeds from the Government of Canada seed identification site. APA – auricular point acupressurecLBP – chronic low back painIF – impact factorMSK – musculoskeletalNRS – numerical rating scaleRMDQ – Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire – key to acronyms This is a moderately large 3-arm trial (n=272) from the US. … Continue reading APA in cLBP 2025
Silent C–nociceptors and ARF
Inspired by Daneffel et al 2025.[1] Consistent ARF following EA at 12mA for 30 minutes. ARF – axon reflex flareMSK – musculoskeletalEA – electroacupunctureR – rectangular square waveHS – half-sine waveCSI – closed-state inactivation – ket to acronyms I am not sure how this paper ended up in my search results, but it captured my … Continue reading Silent C–nociceptors and ARF










You must be logged in to post a comment.