Brain topology turning points over the human lifespan

Stimulated by Mousley et al 2025.[1] IF – impact factorMR – magnetic resonanceDTI – diffusion tensor imaging3D – three dimensional2D – two dimensionalGMV – grey matter volumeWMV – white matter volumeTCV – total cerebral volume – key to acronyms I heard a news item on this research on BBC Radio 4 at the beginning of … Continue reading Brain topology turning points over the human lifespan

Pneumonia risk in stroke patients on PPIs

Stimulated by Wang et al 2025.[1] Photo by Robina on Unsplash. PPIs – proton pump inhibitorsIF – impact factorCDI – Clostridium difficile infectionSIBO – small intestinal bacterial overgrowthPD – Parkinson’s diseaseGERD – gastroesophageal reflex diseaseOR – odds ratio – key to acronyms I have come to quite like the large retrospective cohort studies that have been published in … Continue reading Pneumonia risk in stroke patients on PPIs

Acupuncture and mortality in IHD 2025

Stimulated by Jun et al 2025.[1] Image of Mireuksaji Stone Pagoda, Iksan. IHD – ischaemic heart diseaseCVD – cardiovascular diseaseKIOM – Korean Institute of Oriental Medicinedoi – digital object identifierrTPA – recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (aka Alteplase)DALY – disability-adjusted life yearCHA₂DS₂-VASc score – a scoring system that predicts the risk of CV eventsVIM – variability … Continue reading Acupuncture and mortality in IHD 2025

PC6 for PONV 2025

Stimulated by Lee et al 2025.[1] PC6 – the acupuncture point Pericardium 6PONV – post-operative nausea and vomitingTSA – trial sequential analysisNMA – network meta-analysisPON – post-operative nausea (incidence)POV – post-operative vomiting (incidence)CI – confidence interval – key to acronyms It has been 10 years since the last update of this Cochrane review,[2] and this … Continue reading PC6 for PONV 2025

EA for chronic neck pain 2025

Stimulated by Li et al 2025.[1] Photo by Matthew Zheng on Pexels.com EA – electroacupunctureIF – impact factorAPC – article publishing charge (cost to the authors or their institution for publishing a paper)SEA – sham electroacupunctureWL – waiting listNPQ – Northwick Park neck pain questionnaireMCID – minimal clinically important differenceSF-MPQ – short form McGill pain … Continue reading EA for chronic neck pain 2025

Acupuncture and heart failure

Stimulated by Jun et al 2025.[1] Image of Mireuksaji Stone Pagoda, Iksan. IF – impact factorCV – cardiovasculark – thousand (when written after a numeral)PSM – propensity score matchingCCI – Charleston comorbidity indexCHA₂DS₂-VASc score – a scoring system that predicts the risk of CV eventsAF – atrial fibrillationaHR – adjusted hazard ratio – key to … Continue reading Acupuncture and heart failure

Acupuncture and polypharmacy

Stimulated by Lee et al 2025.[1] Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com SMS – Scientific Meeting SeriesIF – impact factorKM – Korean MedicineMA – manual acupunctureEA – electroacupuncturePSM – propensity score matchingk – thousand (when written after a numeral)CCI – Charleston comorbidity indexaHR – adjusted hazard ratio – key to acronyms This is another one … Continue reading Acupuncture and polypharmacy

Acupuncture IPD and mortality

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

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

Acupuncture for CVD in disability

Stimulated by Jun et al 2025.[1] Image of Mireuksaji Stone Pagoda, Iksan. CVD – cardiovascular diseasePSM – propensity score matchingaHR – adjusted hazard ratioCI – confidence interval – key to acronyms This is another one of those large retrospective cohort studies. This time it is from Iksan, Korea and investigates the association of acupuncture with … Continue reading Acupuncture for CVD in disability