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

Acupuncture AEs 2024

Inspired by a variety of recent case reports. AI generated image. AEs – adverse eventsPDP – personal development planCXR – chest x ray filmSPs – spinous processesBP – blood pressuremmHg – millimetres of mercury (units of fluid pressure)HR – heart ratebpm – beats per minuteTHA – total hip arthroplastyIBD – inflammatory bowel diseaseESI – epidural … Continue reading Acupuncture AEs 2024

Acupuncture and injury risk after stroke 2024

Inspired by Wang et al 2024.[1] AI generated image. LGTD – longitudinal generational tracking databaseaHR – adjusted hazard ratioCCI – Charleston comorbidity index (see previous blog)PD – Parkinson’s diseaseGPT – generative pre-trained transformerCI – confidence intervalPSA – post-stroke aphasia – key to acronyms This is another large retrospective cohort study from Taiwan, this time looking … Continue reading Acupuncture and injury risk after stroke 2024

EA for OAK 2024

Inspired by Liu et al 2024.[1] Image from HVAC photoshoot 2012.[6] EA – electroacupunctureOA – osteoarthritisOAK – OA of the kneeSR – systematic reviewNICE – the National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceHVAC – high volume acupuncture clinicRoB – risk of biasNSAIDs – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugsIPDM – individual patient data meta-analysisGRADE – Grading of Recommendations, … Continue reading EA for OAK 2024

Dementia risk in RA 2024

Inspired by Liao et al 2024.[1] AI generated image. RA – rheumatoid arthritisAD – Alzheimer’s diseaseMCI – mild cognitive impairmentaHR – adjusted hazard ratioRR – risk ratioCHD – coronary heart diseaseFM – fibromyalgiaRCIPD – Registry for the Catastrophic Illness Patient Database (Taiwan)NHIRD – National Health Insurance Research Database (Taiwan) – key to acronyms This is … Continue reading Dementia risk in RA 2024

Acupuncture in Alberta 2024

Inspired by Lu et al 2024.[1] Moraine Lake, Alberta, by John Lee on Unsplash. ABCHIP – Alberta Complementary Health Integration ProjectBPI – brief pain inventoryPSQI – Pittsburgh sleep quality indexPHQ9 – patient health questionnaire 9PROMIS – patient-reported outcomes measurement information system [2]SF – short formEQ-5D-5L – EuroQol Group 5D-5L instrument [3]NRS – numerical rating scaleQoL – … Continue reading Acupuncture in Alberta 2024

Acupuncture and stroke risk in insomnia

Inspired by Huang et al 2024.[1] Visual abstract from Huang et al 2024.[1] IF – impact factorAPC – article publishing chargeNHIRD – national health insurance database (Taiwan)LGTD2000 – longitudinal generational tracking database from 2000NSAIDs – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugsaHR – adjusted hazard ratio – key to acronyms This is another large retrospective cohort study from Taiwan … Continue reading Acupuncture and stroke risk in insomnia

Risk of tubes in dementia 2024

Stimulated by Huang et al 2024.[1] Seven Sisters tube station - platform 4 (2) by Mike Quinn is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0.This is entirely unrelated to the content of this blog apart from the shared word – tube. ‘tubes’ – this refers to urinary catheters, NG tubes and tracheostomiesNG – nasogastricNHIRD – nation health insurance … Continue reading Risk of tubes in dementia 2024