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14 Nov 2008
Acupuncture treats pinched nerve and numbness
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Treating Depression with Acupuncture

posted on 3 October 2008 | posted in Acupuncture

A new pilot study by researchers at the University of Arizona confirmed that acupuncture is a promising treatment for major depression in women.

Depression is extremely common in the US and is among the ten most frequently reported medical conditions. About half the people who seek treatment for depression are not helped by psychotherapy and medication or withdraw from treatment too early (Eisenberg,1993). Of those who recover, more than one third relapses within eighteen months. This suggests that alternative treatment may be very helpful for people who suffer from depression.

This study is important because it is the first randomized, controlled, double-blinded study of acupuncture’s effectiveness for depression reported in the Western scientific literature. The study design compared the results of treatment for three groups. Specific treatment involved acupuncture treatment for symptoms of depression. Non-specific treatment involved acupuncture for symptoms not clearly related to depression. The third group was wait-listed for eight weeks. Both placebo or control groups then received treatment specific for depression. Patients who received the specific treatment improved more during the eight weeks than patients who received the non-specific treatment. For this small sample size, the comparison between the specific treatment and the wait list condition was not statistically significant. Researchers plan to investigate the benefits of maintenance treatments for depression, acupuncture treatment for more severe chronic depression, specific treatment for non-responders to conventional treatment, and specific treatment for those who cannot tolerate side effects of medications.

This article is cited from Psychological Science, a journal of the American Psychological Society, September 1998.

References
Eisenberg, D.M., Kessler R.C., Foster C., Norlock F.E., Calkins D.R., & Delbanco T.L. (1993). Unconventional medicine in the United States: Prevalence, costs, and patterns of use. New England Journal of Medicine, 328, 246-252

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