Inspired by Jiang et al 2025.[1] Hugo Pinto demonstrating a protocol for rehabilitation of acute ankle injuries on a boat travelling up the Douro River from Porto. In the BMAS, we refer to this fondly as the 'BMAS Boat Trip'. It was oversubscribed and the day before the BMAS Autumn Scientific Meeting in September 2013. … Continue reading EA for AOA
Inspired by Liu et al 2025.[1] Photo by Freeman Zhou on Unsplash – Shanghai, China. EA – electroacupunctureIF – impact factorAPI – allergic pulmonary inflammationSP – spinous processCHRM3 – cholinergic receptor muscarinic 3CHRM4 – cholinergic receptor muscarinic 4 – key to acronyms This paper is from the British Journal of Pharmacology (IF 6.8) – a … Continue reading BL13 EA in asthma
Inspired by Sun et al 2024.[1] Photo by Dendy on Unsplash – Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. OA – osteoarthritisOAK – OA of the kneeMA – manual acupunctureEA – electroacupunctureWA – warm acupunctureMM – mild moxibustionSA – sham acupunctureVAS – visual analogue scaleWOMAC – Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA indexBMI – body mass indexARC – Acupuncture … Continue reading Acupuncture techniques for OAK
Stimulated by Jun et al 2025.[1] Image of Mireuksaji Stone Pagoda, Iksan. CVD – cardiovascular diseasePSM – propensity score matchingaHR – adjusted hazard ratioCI – confidence interval – key to acronyms This is another one of those large retrospective cohort studies. This time it is from Iksan, Korea and investigates the association of acupuncture with … Continue reading Acupuncture for CVD in disability
Stimulated by Shi et al 2025.[1] Diagram illustrating the acupuncture protocol from Shi et al 2025 [1] – unilateral points are in the unaffected side. LDH – lumbar disc herniationRCT – randomised controlled trialVAS – visual analogue scaleJOA – Japanese Orthopaedic Association score for low back painSIJ – sacroiliac jointSR – systematic reviewGRADE – Grading … Continue reading Acupuncture plus manipulation in LDH
Stimulated by Hoheisel et al 2025.[1] Top part of Figure 1 in Hoheisel et al 2025.[1] DRG – dorsal root ganglionFG – fluorogold or fluorochrome yellowc-fos – a protein from the Fos family widely used as a marker for neuronal activityc-fos-ir – c-fos immunoreactivityDH – dorsal horn (of the spinal cord)VLP – ventral posterolateral nucleus … Continue reading Muscle pain – a neuroanatomical basis
Stimulated by Kazue Mizumura and Toru Taguchi 2024.[1] Figure 12 from Mizumura and Taguchi 2024.[1] IF – impact factorGPT – generative pre-trained transformerDRG – dorsal root ganglionDOMS – delayed onset muscle sorenessLC – lengthening contractionEDL – extensor digitorum longusNGF – nerve growth factorGDNF – glial cell line derived neurotrophic factorASIC – acid sensing ion channelTRPV … Continue reading Muscle pain – the neurochemical basis
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
Stimulated by Babamiri et al 2025.[1] Photo by Jonathan Borba on Pexels.com ALL – acute lymphoblastic leukaemiaIF – impact factorAML – acute myeloblastic leukaemiaCML – chronic myeloblastic leukaemiaCLL – chronic lymphoblastic leukaemiaPSQI – Pittsburgh sleep quality indexMCID – minimum important clinical difference – key to acronyms There are several novel aspects about the paper I … Continue reading Acupuncture or reflexology for sleep in ALL
Stimulated by Wu et al 2024.[1] IA – intradermal acupunctureSSRI – selective serotonin reuptake inhibitorMDD – major depressive disorderEA – electroacupunctureMA – manual acupunctureIF – impact factorZung SDS – Zung self-rating depression scalePSQI – Pittsburgh sleep quality indexFC – functional connectivityMCID – minimal clinically important differenceGPT – generative pre-trained transformer – key to acronyms I … Continue reading IA plus SSRI in MDD
The BMAS Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.