Category: Research commentaries

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 →

Burkholderia pseudomallei

Inspired by Xiao et al 2022.[1] Cerevisae, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.  DM – diabetes mellitusT6SS – type VI secretion systemT3SS – type III secretion systemCT – computed tomographyTB – tuberculosisMRI – magnetic resonance imagingIV – intravenouskey to acronyms Also known as Pseudomonas pseudomallei, sure enough this Gram-negative, bipolar, aerobic, motile, rod bacterium appears … Continue reading Burkholderia pseudomallei →

Improving acupuncture research 2022

Inspired by a series of recent on access articles in the BMJ online.[1–6] Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com CACMS – China Academy of Chinese Medical SciencesBUCM – Beijing University of Chinese MedicineEBM – evidence-based medicineSR – systematic reviewRCT – randomised controlled trialGRADE – Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (a method of grading … Continue reading Improving acupuncture research 2022 →

Acupuncture for SAR 2022

Inspired by Gellrich et al 2022.[1] Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com SAR – Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis (aka hay fever)aka – also known asAR – allergic rhinitisRCT – randomised controlled trialMA – manual acupunctureARC – Acupuncture in Routine Care (acronym for a set of pragmatic trials within theModellvorhaben Akupunktur)ICER – incremental cost-effectiveness ratioQALY – quality adjusted … Continue reading Acupuncture for SAR 2022 →

Acupuncture for CD 2022

Inspired by Bao et al 2022.[1] Cladogram from Bao et al 2022. A cladogram is a diagram used to show relationships between organisms – from the Greek clados (branch) and gramma (character). CD – Crohn’s DiseaseMA – manual acupunctureCDAI – Crohn’s Disease Activity IndexEA – electroacupunctureCDEIS – Crohn’s Disease Endoscopic Index of SeverityHS – Histopathological … Continue reading Acupuncture for CD 2022 →

Looking inside the MTrP 2022

Inspired by Ball et al 2022.[1] Inside the trigger point drawn by MC on Paper 53 circa 2015. MTrP – myofascial trigger pointTrP – trigger point (exactly the same as MTrP for those wanting to save a keystroke)LTR – local twitch responseUS – ultrasoundVSE – vibration sonoelastographySWE – shear wave elastographyDN – dry needling aka … Continue reading Looking inside the MTrP 2022 →

Acupuncture and fracture risk in OA

Inspired by Huang et al 2022.[1] Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com OA – osteoarthritisJICM – Journal of Integrative and Complementary MedicineJACM – Journal of Alternative and Complementary MedicineVIP – very important personaHR – adjusted hazard ratio key to acronyms This paper appeared online on the 14th of this month in JICM, and it was then … Continue reading Acupuncture and fracture risk in OA →

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 →