Stimulated by Abanes et al 2019.[1] Photo by Ian Espinosa on Unsplash. This is a small feasibility study that came out last month. I saw it on my PubMed searches but could not access full text. It was a single arm (n=16) study, so I felt I was not missing too much by not seeing … Continue reading Perceived stress 2019
Stimulated by Sun et al 2019.[1] Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash. Ever since I started reading sham controlled acupuncture trials in the early 90’s I have focussed most on the adequacy of the treatment (probably in a self-referential way) compared with the stimulus strength in the sham. I saw Jorge Vas’s trial in OA knee published in … Continue reading Parameters of dose for acupuncture
Stimulated by Paim et al and D’Allessandro et al 2019.[1,2] Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash. I selected these trials that were published online on consecutive days last week whilst I was attending a conference in Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It was only after selecting them that I noticed that both trials were conducted in Brazil. … Continue reading Side-effects of cancer treatment – Brazil 2019
Stimulated by Prinsze et al 2019.[1] Photo by Cassi Josh on Unsplash. New acronyms are guaranteed to get me guessing, but these two were a challenge. They roll off the tongue pretty well as acronyms, but I had to check both! NREs are needle-related events, so that is relevant to the blog, and TTIs are transfusion-transmissible infections ie … Continue reading NREs and TTIs in the Netherlands
Stimulated by Lv et al 2019.[1] My eldest two cherubs demonstrating examination of the knee ;-)One is now an actor - guess which one! The paper that I am highlighting in this piece has two relatively novel features. First, and most interesting is the testing of two different doses of active EA (electroacupuncture) in a … Continue reading Strong EA & CPM in OAK
Stimulated by Lo et al 2019.[1] Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash. This paper caught my eye because I advocate the use of electroacupuncture (EA) in frozen shoulder, but I find it hard to know whether or not I am doing any good. There is little or no controlled trial data in this specific condition, whilst there is … Continue reading EA for frozen shoulder
In regret triggered by the title of Probst et al 2019.[1] This diagram illustrates the anatomical location of piriformis relative to the pelvis, and the characteristic pain referral patterns that form part of the myofascial syndrome. The blue dots on the leg represent tingling that might occur if there is nerve entrapment in piriformis syndrome. … Continue reading Piriformis revisited
Inspired by Garland et al 2019.[1] Selfie in the Ozone Bar on the 118th floor of the ICC tower looking over Hong Kong island. Thanks to Karen Chan for guiding us to the Ozone layer on this occasion, and to Gill and Dave Keefe for first taking me 4 years ago. This paper popped up … Continue reading CBT-I pips acupuncture in insomnia
Inspired by Dietzel et al 2019.[1] Image by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash. This paper was published very recently in the journal Neurocritical Care. I was more familiar with it than you might expect because, on request of the senior author, I had checked the English a couple of times for submissions to different journals … Continue reading SAH headache 2019
Inspired by Nicolian et al 2019 and Vas et al 2019.[1,2] Image by Janko Ferlič on Unsplash. Nicolian et al 2019 is the first paper to report a cost-effectiveness analysis of adding acupuncture to usual care of pelvic girdle and low back pain (PGLBP) in pregnancy. It was a pragmatic open randomised controlled trial with … Continue reading PGLBP or LBPGP during pregnancy
