Scientifically corroborated: acupuncture creates quality of life
Acupuncture has become firmly established as an element of oncology and is used in the treatment of side effects of traditional cancer treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy in particular. Numerous studies show that this TCM therapy, the most used in Switzerland, achieves measurable success.
A selection of findings:
Definitions:
“Randomized” means that the participants were assigned to test groups on a purely random basis.
A “blind study” is one in which the participants do not know which treatment they are being given.
CINV (chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting)
National Institutes of Health Consensus Development, USA
Randomized studies on the effectiveness of various treatments for nausea and vomiting caused by intensive chemotherapy using electroacupuncture, minimal needling, simulated electrical acupuncture and solely medicine-based treatments.
Date: March 1996 to December 1997
Subjects: 100 female patients with an increased risk of breast cancer
Summary
Electroacupuncture treatments for preventing nausea and vomiting proved superior to the other treatment types. Treatments with minimal needling were in turn more effective than the treatments using medicines only.
> To the study
Cancer-related fatigue in patients with breast cancer
Cancer Survivors University of Manchester, UK
A randomized study on the effectiveness of acupuncture against physical, mental and emotional fatigue in breast cancer patients following completion of chemotherapy.
At the start of the trial, the participants defined their fatigue levels on a scale of five to ten. All participants received a brochure with information on the topic. Patients assigned to the intervention group had six 20-minute acupuncture sessions over a six-week period. The control group were only given a standard treatment.
Date: 2012
Subjects: 300 female patients with breast cancer stages I, II and IIIA
Summary
At the end of the therapy, the participants treated with acupuncture rated their fatigue levels as lower than at the start of the study by three or more points out of a total of 10.
> To the study
Cognitive impairment caused by chemotherapy (chemo brain)
Hongkong University
A blind randomized study on the effectiveness of electroacupuncture combined with traditional body acupuncture (EA/TNS + BA) compared with minimal acupuncture (MAS) for the stimulation of the trigeminal nerve in breast cancer patients following chemotherapy.
The trigeminal nerve is responsible for sensory perception and motor functions, systems which can often be disrupted as a result of chemotherapy.
The study was evaluated on the basis of the MoCA test, which measures attention function and working memory.
Date: October 2015 to December 2018
Subjects: 93 female patients with breast cancer
Summary
The group treated with EA/TNS + BA scored significantly higher than the participants in the MAS group in the working memory test in weeks two and eight. EA/TNS + BA also significantly reduced the frequency of diarrhoea, loss of appetite, headaches, anxiety and irritability and resulted in a general increase in quality of life and an improvement in social, family and emotional well-being compared with MAS.
> To the study
Xerostomia (radiation-induced dry mouth)
MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA / Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center International, RCT
Randomized clinical studies to research the effect of genuine and sham acupuncture on radiation-induced dry mouth (xerostomia) in patients with head and neck tumours on completion of radiotherapy.
Date: December 2011 to July 2015
Subjects: 339 participants aged 21 to 79
Summary
After twelve months, the patients who had had acupuncture reported significantly less radiation-induced dry mouth than the patients in the control group with traditional treatments or with sham acupuncture.
> To the study
Pain, neuropathy, fatigue, hot flushes, nausea
Summary from the conference of the National Cancer Institute NCI, Rockville, USA
Symposium on “Acupuncture for Cancer Symptom Management”, 16–17 June 2016
Studies by reputable researchers show that acupuncture is far superior to traditional treatments.
Joint pain
Oestrogen-lowering drugs (aromatase inhibitors) cause joint pain (arthralgia) in many breast cancer survivors. A randomized blind clinical study looked into the effect of acupuncture versus sham acupuncture.
Summary
Treatments with acupuncture resulted in a significant reduction in joint pain and stiffness that could not be determined with sham acupuncture.
Peripheral neuropathy caused by chemotherapy
Peripheral neuropathy denotes damage to nerve cords outside the brain and spinal cord. In a pilot study, 27 bone cancer patients were treated with acupuncture over a period of ten weeks.
Summary
The therapy achieved a significant improvement in neuropathic pain and nerve function.
Fatigue and exhaustion
In the biggest randomized clinical study with female breast cancer patients to date, six acupuncture sessions were compared against an extended standardized treatment. Assessment was carried out using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (a 20-point questionnaire).
Summary
Acupuncture combined with the usual treatment resulted in a significant reduction in exhaustion.
Hot flushes
A large-scale randomized clinical study investigated the effect of acupuncture compared with an enhanced standard treatment.
Summary
Treatment with acupuncture reduced the hot flushes and improved quality of life in terms of vasomotor, physical and psychosocial performance.
Nausea and vomiting
A Cochrane review from 2006 focused on the effects of electroacupuncture and classic acupuncture. (Cochrane: an independent international healthcare network)
Summary
Acupuncture with additional electronic stimulation of the needles (electroacupuncture) reduces the frequency of acute vomiting, while classic acupuncture is effective against nausea.
> To the report
