EA for CUR 2024

Stimulated by Yang et al 2024.[1] Lake Powell, Arizona on Wednesday 19th April 2023. EA – electroacupunctureCUR – chronic urinary retentionQoL – quality of lifeSNS – sacral nerve stimulationPOUR – post-operative urinary retentionPVR – post-voiding residual (urine volume)EA – electroacupuncturePOCUS – point of care ultrasound key to acronyms This is a relatively small retrospective cohort … Continue reading EA for CUR 2024

Acupuncture and BCRL

Stimulated by Lee et al 2024.[1] Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com BCRL – breast cancer-related lymphoedemaBMI – body mass indexNHIS – national health insurance servicePSM – propensity score matchingIRR – incident rate ratioCI – confidence intervalHR – hazard ratio key to acronyms This is another large retrospective cohort study from Korea. The difference from … Continue reading Acupuncture and BCRL

Risk of tubes in dementia 2024

Stimulated by Huang et al 2024.[1] Seven Sisters tube station - platform 4 (2) by Mike Quinn is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0.This is entirely unrelated to the content of this blog apart from the shared word – tube. ‘tubes’ – this refers to urinary catheters, NG tubes and tracheostomiesNG – nasogastricNHIRD – nation health insurance … Continue reading Risk of tubes in dementia 2024

Stroke risk in RA 2024

Stimulated by Huang et al 2023.[1] Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com RA – rheumatoid arthritisRCIPD – Registry for Catastrophic Illness Patients DatabaseNHIRD – national health insurance research database (Taiwan)DMARDs – disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugsaHR – adjusted hazard ratioCHD – coronary heart disease key to acronyms I thought this was the first time I had … Continue reading Stroke risk in RA 2024

Chronic and recurrent Bell’s palsy 2023

Stimulated by Li et al, and Choi et al 2023.[1,2] Photo by 邱 严 on Unsplash, with some pretty bad editing on photoshop by MC to create facial asymmetry. EA – electroacupunctureTES – transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS applied to cause muscle contraction)EMG – electromyographyUS FDA – United States Food & Drug AdministrationTFNI – total facial … Continue reading Chronic and recurrent Bell’s palsy 2023

Acupuncture dysmenorrhoea and depression 2023

Stimulated by Liao et al 2023.[1] Photo by Polina Zimmerman on Pexels.com LGTD – longitudinal generation tracking databaseNHIRD – national health insurance research database (Taiwan)aHR – adjusted hazard ratioIL6 – interleukin 6IL1β – interleukin 1βTNF – tumour necrosis factorALB – albuminVEGFA – vascular endothelial growth factor ACRP – C-reactive proteinPTGS2 – prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthetase 2 (aka … Continue reading Acupuncture dysmenorrhoea and depression 2023

Is FM an autoimmune disease?

Stimulated by Clauw et al 2023 and Cho et al 2023.[1,2] Photo by Cameron Venti on Unsplash. FM – fibromyalgiaIF – impact factorSGC – satellite glial cellDRG – dorsal root ganglionMSK – musculoskeletalHR – hazard ratioaHR – adjusted hazard ratio key to acronyms I was curious to see this debate on FM published in Autoimmune … Continue reading Is FM an autoimmune disease?

Acupuncture and dementia risk in insomnia 2023

Inspired by Huang et al 2023.[1] Visual abstract from Huang et al 2023.[1] WHO – World Health OrganisationPRC – Peoples Republic of ChinaLHID – Longitudinal Health Insurance DatabaseNHIRD – National Health Insurance Research Database (Taiwan)HR – hazard ratioaHR – adjusted hazard ratioNSAID – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugMAOI – monoamine oxidase inhibitorSSRI – selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor … Continue reading Acupuncture and dementia risk in insomnia 2023

Hypertension risk in CSU 2023

Stimulated by Chang et al 2023.[1] Modified slightly from BruceBlaus, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons CSU – chronic spontaneous urticariaCIU – chronic idiopathic urticaria (same as CSU)NHIRD – National Health Insurance Research DatabaseLHID – Longitudinal Health Insurance DatabaseaHR – adjusted hazard ratio key to acronyms This is another of the large retrospective observational … Continue reading Hypertension risk in CSU 2023

Acupuncture for endometriosis pain 2023

Stimulated by Li et al 2023.[1] Figure 2 from Li et al 2023.[1] RCT – randomised controlled trialVAS – visual analogue score key to acronyms This is the second moderately large (n=106) controlled trial of acupuncture in endometriosis. It is a sham controlled trial. The first was a similarly sized (n=101) cross-over trial using acupuncture … Continue reading Acupuncture for endometriosis pain 2023