Acupuncture for comorbid pain and depression 2023

Stimulated by Liao et al 2023.[1] MDD – major depressive disorderWMA – Western medical acupunctureTCM – traditional Chinese medicineBPI – brief pain inventoryRCT – randomised controlled trialGRADE – Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (a method of grading the quality or ‘certainty’ and strength or ‘effect size’ of evidence in healthcare)ES – effect sizeHAM-D … Continue reading Acupuncture for comorbid pain and depression 2023 →

FM and anti-SGC IgG 2023

Stimulated by Krock et al 2023.[1] Angel of the West is an outdoor sculpture in Jupiter, Florida, United States. The sculpture was made in 2008 by German sculptor Julian Voss-Andreae and was created based on an antibody structure published by E. Padlan for the Florida campus of the Scripps Research Institute. The antibody is placed into a ring referencing Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man highlighting … Continue reading FM and anti-SGC IgG 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 →

Acupuncture for tinnitus 2023

Stimulated by Wu et al 2023.[1] Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com SR – systematic reviewIF – impact factorRCT – randomised controlled trialCBT – cognitive behaviour therapyTHI – tinnitus handicap inventoryPTA – pure tone averagedB – decibel (a logarithmic scale of sound level) key to acronyms Well, I was struggling a bit to find something … Continue reading Acupuncture for tinnitus 2023 →

Fat embolism after acupuncture

Stimulated by Xu et al 2023.[1] Lung tissue stained for fat with Sudan III demonstrating severe pulmonary fat embolism.[1] SvN – silver needleSSN – stainless steel needleLBP – low back painPID – prolapsed intervertebral discFFA – free fatty acidCRP – C-reactive protein key to acronyms This paper popped up on PubMed last night, whilst I … Continue reading Fat embolism after acupuncture →

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 →

Sham devices impede real acupuncture 2023

Stimulated by Lee et al 2023.[1] Photo by Iai_man_nung on Unsplash. NMA – network meta-analysisRCT – randomised controlled trialOAK – osteoarthritis of the kneeMA – manual acupunctureEA – electroacupunctureSMD – standardised mean differenceMCID – minimum clinically important differenceNICE – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence key to acronyms I first wrote about this on … Continue reading Sham devices impede real acupuncture 2023 →

Antidepressants for pain 2023

Inspired by Ferreira et al 2023.[1] Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.comI chose an image that looks a bit like one formulation of duloxetine – the SNRI that probably figures most prominently in the research discussed. NICE – National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceSR – systematic reviewSNRIs – serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitorsCI – confidence intervalMCID … Continue reading Antidepressants for pain 2023 →

Acup* for ARC 2023

Inspired by Chen C et al 2023 and Chen H-T et al 2023.[1,2] Screen grab from the supplementary video file demonstrating the position of the Qiu point.[1] Acup* – Acupressure or AcupunctureARC – acute renal colicRCT – randomised controlled trialIV – intravenousNSAID – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugBCE – before common era (secular version of BC)CE – … Continue reading Acup* for ARC 2023 →