Acupuncture in the ICU

Stimulated by Ben-Arie et al 2023.[1] What better place to talk of mortality, but unfortunately, I mistook E Ben-Arye for E Ben-Arie on the programme. ICU – intensive care unitSR – systematic reviewAEs – adverse eventsGRADE – grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluation key to acronyms I was thinking of highlighting this SR on … Continue reading Acupuncture in the ICU

STP and the DH 2023

Stimulated by Cathenaut et al 2023.[1] Graphic drawn by MC in the late 90's at the request of AW for a paper in the BMJ.[2] STP – short term plasticityDH – dorsal horn (the sensory horn of the spinal cord)EA – electroacupunctureCirca – approximately (sometimes shortened to c)TRPV1 – transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1GABA … Continue reading STP and the DH 2023

TENS in patients with ICDs

Stimulated by Subhail Arain et al 2023.[1] Visual abstract from Subhail Arain et al 2023.[1] TENS – transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationICD – implanted cardioverter defibrillatorEA – electroacupunctureCRT – cardiac resynchronisation therapyECG – electrocardiogramEMI – electromagnetic interferenceVT – ventricular tachycardiaVF – ventricular fibrillationAEs – adverse events key to acronyms As a keen proponent of EA and … Continue reading TENS in patients with ICDs

EA for NVP 2023

Stimulated by Wu et al 2023.[1] EA – electroacupunctureNVP – nausea and vomiting of pregnancyPCOS – polycystic ovarian syndromeLisa SV – Professor Elisabet Stener-Victorin, Karolinska InstitutetPUQE – pregnancy unique quantification of emesisIF – impact factorGWAS – genome wide association studyhCG – human chorionic gonadotrophinGDF15 – growth/differentiation factor 15 key to acronyms This is the largest … Continue reading EA for NVP 2023

EA and COMT Val158Met 2023

Stimulated by Yang et al 2023.[1] Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com.You might expect this sort of character to be Val Val ie homozygous for guanine at codon 158 of the COMT gene. EA – electroacupunctureAA – auricular acupunctureCOMT – catechol-o-methyltransferaseMSK – musculoskeletalBFA – battlefield acupuncture (an AA protocol – See: Ears and the battlefield)rs – … Continue reading EA and COMT Val158Met 2023

EA for intestinal barrier function in IBS and UC 2023

Stimulated by Liu et al 2023.[1] Volcano plots from Figure 1 of Liu et al 2023.[1] EA – electroacupunctureIBS – irritable bowel syndromeUC – ulcerative colitisDSS – dextran sodium sulphateDEGs – differentially expressed genesGSEA – gene set enrichment analysis key to acronyms This paper came up in one of my searches in the last week … Continue reading EA for intestinal barrier function in IBS and UC 2023

Acupuncture for acute arthritis 2023

Stimulated by Yu and Kim 2023.[1] Figure summarising mechanisms from Yu and Kim 2023.[1] MA – manual acupunctureEA – electroacupunctureSR – systematic reviewPWL – paw withdrawal latencyPWT – paw withdrawal thresholdRoB – risk of biasWMA – Western medical acupunctureNSAIDs – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs key to acronyms I have long pondered on the difference between what … Continue reading Acupuncture for acute arthritis 2023

Pre-EA on spinal WDRs

Stimulated by Yu et al 2023.[1] Image from part of Figure 1 in Yu et al 2023.[1] EA – electroacupunctureWDR – wide dynamic range (neurones that respond to non-noxious and noxious inputs)SDH – spinal dorsal hornHS – hypertonic salineRF – receptive field key to acronyms This paper comes from Professor Jing’s team in Beijing and … Continue reading Pre-EA on spinal WDRs

EA for OIC

Stimulated by Wang et al 2023.[1] EA protocol used for OIC in Wang et al 2023.[1]Diagram by MC. EA – electroacupunctureOIC – opioid-induced constipationCSFC – chronic severe functional constipation5-HT – 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin)TEAS – TENS applied to acupuncture points (ie TENS)TENS – transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationSCC – severe chronic constipationCSBM – complete spontaneous bowel movementSBM – … Continue reading EA for OIC

EA for PSD

Stimulated by Yao et al 2023.[1] PSD – post-stroke dysphagiaIF – impact factorEA – electroacupunctureaka – also known asROS – reactive oxygen speciesM1 – primary motor cortexPBN – parabrachial nucleusNTS – nucleus tractus solitarius key to acronyms I am pretty selective about choosing laboratory studies to highlight on the blog. I do not have direct … Continue reading EA for PSD