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
Category: Stroke
Acupuncture for PSD 3 2025
Stimulated by Li et al 2025.[1] Part of one figure from Yao et al 2023.[2] PSD – post-stroke dysphagiaIF – impact factorWST – water swallowing test (30mls of warm water) – key to acronyms This is the third paper on PSD I have highlighted this year. It is a cohort study from China, which is … Continue reading Acupuncture for PSD 3 2025
Post-acupuncture ACSEH
Stimulated by Wang et al 2025.[1] Photo by Gildo Cancelli on Pexels.com ACSEH – acute cervical spinal epidural haematomapaACSEH – post-acupuncture ACSEHSEH – spinal epidural haematomaIF – impact factorrTPA – recombinant tissue plasminogen activator – key to acronyms I thought this was going to be another first for the blog – a paACSEH mimicking a … Continue reading Post-acupuncture ACSEH
Acupuncture for PSD 2 2025
Stimulated by Xu et al 2025.[1] Photo by Lee Jason on Pexels.com PSD – post-stroke dysphagiaRCT – randomised controlled trialMA – manual acupunctureIF – impact factorWST – water swallowing test (30ml of water)CRT – conventional rehabilitation trainingSSA – standardised swallowing assessmentMMASA – modified Mann assessment of swallowing ability5-HT – 5-hydroxytriptamine (aka serotonin)SWAL-QoL – swallowing quality of … Continue reading Acupuncture for PSD 2 2025
Acupuncture for PSD 2025
Stimulated by Zhang et al 2025.[1] Photo by Kent Zhong on Pexels.com.Aerial View of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in China. PSD – post-stroke dysphagiaRCT – randomised controlled trialMA – manual acupunctureSRT – swallowing rehabilitation trainingIF – impact factorc – circa (from Latin and written before a number to mean it is an approximation)WST … Continue reading Acupuncture for PSD 2025
TEAS after CVA surgery
Stimulated by Chen et al 2024.[1] Diagram by MC illustrating the treatment used in the trial by Chen et al 2024.[1] TEAS – transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (ie a form of TENS)TENS – transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationCVA – cerebrovascular accidentIF – impact factorRCT – randomised controlled trialICU – intensive care unitGCS – Glasgow coma scaleGI … Continue reading TEAS after CVA surgery
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
Acupuncture for CAD 2024
Inspired by Huang et al 2024.[1] Figure 1 from Ihle-Hansen et al 2023.[2]Calculation of carotid plaque score. CAD – carotid atherosclerotic diseaseUS – ultrasoundSCM – sternocleidomastoid (muscle)cIMT – carotid intima-media thicknessPS – plaque score (based on plaque thickness)PV – plaque volume (3D measure)GSM – grey-scale median (3D measure of fibrosis and hence plaque stability)PWV – … Continue reading Acupuncture for CAD 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
Acupuncture for swallowing in PSD 2024
Stimulated by Ma et al and Zhang et al 2024.[1,2] MC doing tongue manoeuvres with a needle buried in CV23 at a BMAS Practical course in March 2024.CV23 has recently been introduced on the BMAS Foundation Course... PSD – post stroke dysphagiaIF – impact factorFMA – Fugl-Meyer assessment (motor function assessment after stroke)BI – Barthel … Continue reading Acupuncture for swallowing in PSD 2024










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