Smartphone-controlled TENS

Inspired by Joan Gan et al 2021 and Sha et al 2022.[1,2] Joan Gan et al Figure 1.[1] TENS – transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationEA – electroacupunctureSCEA – smartphone-controlled EA (note this was not a form of EA)key to acronyms I found this paper from last year thanks to a letter written in response, which was … Continue reading Smartphone-controlled TENS

EA in FD 2022

Inspired by Wu et al, Yang et al, & Li et al 2022.[1–3] Image by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash. EA – electroacupunctureFD – functional dyspepsia or functional diarrhoeaFDys – functional dyspepsia (in this blog)FDr – functional diarrhoea (in this blog)IBS – irritable bowel syndrometid – ter in die (3 times a day)tds – ter die sumendus (to be … Continue reading EA in FD 2022

Missing the point in Guangzhou 2022

Inspired by Zeng et al 2022.[1] Cropped photo of BMJ cover from 10th March 2018. IF – impact factorEA – electroacupunctureMA – manual acupunctureNPQ – Northwick Park Neck Pain QuestionnaireSF-MPQ – Short-Form McGill Pain QuestionnaireVAS – visual analogue scorePT – pain threshold (in this case electrical pain threshold in skin)PPT – pressure pain thresholdkey to … Continue reading Missing the point in Guangzhou 2022

Acupuncture in PMD

Inspired by Zhou et al 2022.[1] Photo by Tatiana Syrikova on Pexels.com PMD – perimenopausal depressionMA – manual acupunctureEA – electroacupunctureHAM-D – Hamilton Depression Rating ScaleHAMD-17 – the sum of the first 17 items on the HAM-DMENQOL – Menopause-specific Quality of Life QuestionnaireFSH – follicle stimulating hormoneLH – luteinising hormoneRCT – randomised controlled trial key … Continue reading Acupuncture in PMD

EA for surgical ToP

Inspired by Ng et al 2021.[1] Photo by Andy Wang on Unsplash. EA – electroacupunctureToP – termination of pregnancyIVF – invitro fertilisationRCT – randomised controlled trialSE – suction evacuationIM – intramuscularAA – auricular acupuncturekey to acronyms This paper was published online in Acupuncture in Medicine last month and comes from a well-known research group led … Continue reading EA for surgical ToP

Adjuvant acupuncture in cancer treatment 2021

Inspired by Ke et al 2021 and Shih et al.[1,2] Looking into the destruction chamber of a proteasome. Image by Thomas Splettstoesser (www.scistyle.com), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. EA – electroacupunctureMM – multiple myelomaLC-MS – liquid chromatography mass spectrometryUHPLC-MS – ultra high performance LC-MSMA – manual acupunctureSR – systematic reviewkey to acronyms For the … Continue reading Adjuvant acupuncture in cancer treatment 2021

EA vs metformin for IR in PCOS 2021

Inspired by Wen et al 2021.[1] Photo by Sebastian Pena Lambarri on Unsplash. The admittedly tenuous link to this week's blog is of course FINS, which feature in both. EA – electroacupunctureMA – manual acupunctureIR – insulin resistancePCOS – polycystic ovary syndromeRCT – randomised controlled trialBMI – body mass indexHOMA-IR – homeostatic model assessment of … Continue reading EA vs metformin for IR in PCOS 2021

EA and the gut microbiome

Inspired by Wang et al 2021.[1] Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.comWhilst I think EA is great in KOA, the most direct way of influencing the microbial diversity in the gut is through what we chose to put in it. All the data suggests that colourful vegetables are probably the most important component of diet … Continue reading EA and the gut microbiome

A neuroanatomic basis for EA

Inspired by Lui et al 2021.[1] Diagramatic representation of the genetic manipulation used to make cells expressing both prokineticin receptor 2 and advillin produce and thus fluoresce with tdTomato – redrawn by MC on Adobe Illustrator. EA – electroacupunctureIF – impact factor (2-year)Prokr2Adv – a set of nerves expressing both Prokr2 and advillinProkr2 – prokineticin … Continue reading A neuroanatomic basis for EA