Retinitis Pigmentosa May Respond to Acupuncture

Reprinted from Journal of Clinical Acupuncture and Moxibustion and as reported here. 

Mounting evidence suggests that acupuncture is an effective treatment for retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative eye disorder that may to lead to blindness. A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Acupuncture and Moxibustionconcludes that acupuncture treatment protects the optic nerve from damage caused by intraocular pressure by alleviating stresses on retinal and optic nerve axonal ultrastructures.¹ The Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine published that the use of Chinese medicine improved retinal cone activity for patients with retinitis pigmentosa, even in cases of advanced retinal degeneration. Using electroretinograms for the investigation, the study also concludes that, “TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) treatment could also enhance the bioactivity of (the) nerve network and therefore have a definite significance in retarding the progression of disease and keeping the central vision.”² In another study, injections of She Xiang into acupuncture points UB18 and UB23 helped patients with retinitis pigmentosa. The study concludes that injection of She Xiang into Ganshu (UB18) and Shenshu (UB23) “can improve effectively the function and metabolism of optic cells, promote blood circulation of the retina, enhance the visual acuity, and protect the central vision for the patient of retinitis pigmentosa.”³ Yet another study of retinitis pigmentosa patients receiving acupuncture (ranging from ages 7 – 75 years) showed significant improvement and a halting of deterioration of the visual field.⁴

 We also treat many vision problems related to stroke, infection, trauma, glaucoma, and other forms of retinitis.

References:
1 Sun He , Zhang Hu. The Protective Effect of Acupuncture Treatment on Retinal and Optic Nerve Axonal Ultrastructure in Rabbit Eyes with Chronic Elevated IOP. Journal of Clinical Acupuncture and Moxibustion. 2010-05.
2 Wu Xing-Wei; Tang You-zhi. Study on Treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa with Traditional Chinese Medicine by Flicker Electroretinogram. CHINESE JOURNAL OF INTEGRATED TRADITIONAL AND WESTERN MEDICINE. 1996-06.
3 Hao Xiaobo, Wang Guihong, Peng Changxin, et al. (Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of TCM, Nanning 530023, China). Study on treatment of retinitis pigmentosa with acupoint injection of Shexiang Injection. Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion. 2003-4.
4 Reddy NS, Fouzdar NM. Role of acupuncture in the treatment of `Incurable' retinal diseases. Indian J Ophthalmol 1983;31:1043-6.
5 Wu Xing-Wei; Tang You-zhi. Study on Treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa with Traditional Chinese Medicine by Flicker Electroretinogram. CHINESE JOURNAL OF INTEGRATED TRADITIONAL AND WESTERN MEDICINE. 1996-06.

The Acupuncture Treatment of Lazy Eye

Image culled from www.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Child_eyepatch.jpg

Research published in the Archives of Opthalmology underscore the practical use of using acupuncture to treat lazy eye in children. WebMD printed an analysis of the study here. Acupuncture could potentially become an alternative treatment to occlusion [patching] therapy for ambylopia [lazy eye], the researchers write. An excerpt from the abstract reads:

The mean BSCVA of the amblyopic eye at 15 weeks improved from baseline by 1.83 and 2.27 lines in the patching and acupuncture groups, respectively. Amblyopia was resolved in 7 (16.7%) and 17 (41.5%) eyes in the patching and acupuncture groups, respectively.

It has been our experience, at the Northside Holistic Center, that children with ambylopia do respond extremely well to acupuncture treatment, although it is important that parents frame the experience in a positive light as a wrong choice of wording can frighten the child. The actual treatment is quite easy for most children.

Another research study, published in the April 2011 issue of the journal, Opthamology, and readable at Reuters here, finds that: 

Adding to past evidence, acupuncture plus wearing glasses might help kids get over "lazy eye," a new study says.

In kids 3 to 7 years old, acupuncture plus glasses helped vision improve compared with just glasses alone, said study co-author Dr. Dennis Shun-Chiu Lam. 

At the beginning of the study, all of the kids' vision in the bad eye was about the same, around 20/63. The kids who got acupuncture as well as glasses had about 20/32 vision in their bad eye, on average. This is compared to about 20/40 vision in kids that only wore the glasses.

The difference between 20/32 and 20/40 is about the equivalent of being able to read about one line further down on the eye chart, said Dr. Marc Lustig, an assistant professor in department of ophthalmology at the New York University Medical Center.

A previous study by the same group suggested that acupuncture may work as well as patches for treating lazy eye. (See Reuters Health story of December 16, 2010.)

A global study in the prestigious journal Pediatrics, evaluating the saftey of acupuncture with children, found that:

Treating kids with acupuncture is a common practice and generally safe, according to a new study.

“Like adults, acupuncture is very safe when applied to the children’s population,” said Jamie Starkey, an acupuncturist from the Cleveland Clinic, who did not take part in the study. “And so it basically mimics exactly what is seen in the adult population.”

“Any of the serious side effects that they found were definitely due in part to the clinician’s malpractice,” Starkey said. “So, it was certainly somebody who was not necessarily the most trained. The take-home message is that it is absolutely safe in both the adult and pediatric world, but you have to go to somebody who is trained.” [italics mine]

 An article about the study is readable here.

Psoriasis and Chinese Medicine

<the beginning of a rough draft on the treatment of various forms of psoriasis with Chinese medicine. Please check back often as this article will be enlarged regularly>

 Image courtesy of flickr from: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1016/1133597255_bd427077b5.jpg 

Psoriasis is a chronic dermatological issue which presents as a thick white, silver or red patches of skin, often with dramatic flaking. It is the result of inappropriately rapidly growing skin cells which form plaques. These plaques may occur anywhere on the body, but tend to congregate on the knees, elbows, scalp, hands, feet or lower back. The disorder usually spares the face itself, though we do occasionally see facial psoriasis in the clinic.

The intensity of psoriasis is highly variable, ranging from small, isolated patches, to dramatic full body involvement. There are forms of psoriasis, called psoriatic arthritis, which cause the joints to become involved. This may also cause finger and toenails to alter their color and texture, frequently separating from the nailbed.

While the exact cause of psoriasis is unknown, from a Western medical perspective it is thought to result from an immune system overreaction which triggers localized inflammation. Few dermatologists would hesitate to acknowledge that the state of their knowledge on psoriasis is far from complete. What is known is that the disorder can run in families, may be triggered by stress, climate, pharmaceutical use, or foods and that smoking is often an aggravating factor. 

Happily Chinese medicine can be exceptionally useful in treating this set of disorders.

Types of psoriasis commonly seen in our clinic:

• Patch/Plaque Psoriasis
• Scalp Psoriasis 
• Psoriasis of the Scalp
• Pompholyx Psoriasis
• Pustular Psoriasis
• Psoriatic Psoriasis

Results depend a great deal upon the intensity of the psoriasis, the amount of the body affected and the duration of the problem. People usually begin to see some results within 4-6 weeks of beginning therapy. This improvement will usually continue until we have achieved the return of normal skin. 

Research/Articles:

Successful Treatment of Psoriasis by Chinese Medicine, Arch Dermatol. 2008 Nov;144(11):1457-64.

Clinical assessment of patients with recalcitrant, plaque type psoriasis in a randomized trial, using a Chinese herbal formula. 

Results: Significant reductions in the sum of scaling, erythema, and induration scores (P < .001) (mean score, 6.3 after Qing Dai  treatment vs 12.8 in control subjects) and plaque area percentage (P 
< .001) (mean percentage, 38.5% after Qing Dai  treatment vs 90% in controls) were achieved with topical application of Qing Dai  ointment. Approximately 31 of 42 patients (74%) experienced clearance or near clearance of their psoriasis in the Qing Dai ointment-treated lesion.

Conclusion: The Chinese herbal formula was a safe, and effective therapy for plaque-type psoriasis.

Acupuncture Treatment for Psoriasis: a Retrospective Case Report. Acupunct Electrother Res. 1992 Jul-Sep;17(3):195-208.

We treated 61 cases of psoriasis with acupuncture, including 25 patients with complications of joint involvement and two cases with scleroderma additionally. All of the patients had failed to respond to their prior conventional western medical management. 25 patients were males and 36 were females. Their ages ranged from 22 to 84 years, with an average of about 52 years. There was no significant difference of the average ages between the sexes. Most of them (about 61%) had quite extensive involvement of the body. The average of duration of their illness was over 16 years, ranging from two to 65 years. They received an average of about nine sessions of acupuncture treatment, ranging from one to 15. Almost one third (19) of them had eleven to thirteen sessions. With the acupuncture treatment, about one-half (30) of the 61 patients had complete or almost complete clearance of the skin lesions. About a quarter (14 patients) of them had a clearance of about two thirds of the skin lesions. Eight of them had a clearance of one third of the skin lesions. Nine patients had minimal or no improvement. Our experience indicates that acupuncture is induced an effective therapeutic modality for psoriasis, particularly when the western medical management is unsuccessful. We speculated about the possible involvement of the cutaneous reticuloendothelial system in the clearance of the skin lesions.

Chinese Medicine Potentially Treatment for Liver Fibrosis

A 2009 study which assessed Chinese medical treatment for liver fibrosis concluded that, "Evidence indicates that some Chinese medicines are clinically effective in treating liver fibrosis."

Fibrosis is the replacement of healthy liver tissue with scar tissue and nodules which gradually force a decline in liver function. It is usually caused by chronic viral infections or chemical (often pharmaceutical) insult to the organ itself. 

This type of liver problem leads to a variety of frequently life threatening issues including ascites (fluid accumulation in the abdomen) and decreased immune function leading to an increased chance of infection.

Cirrhosis is very difficult to treat by standard methods and the western medical strategy usually involves trying to prevent complications and/or removing the cause of the scarring, if caused by a pharmacological agent. If the disease becomes advanced the patient may be considered for a liver transplant.

At our clinic we have had notable success, particularly with patients who, by necessity, are on medications which are creating the liver scarring; or are suffering with a chronic hepatitis C infection. This study backs up our experience quite well.

Women with PCOS Benefit from Acupuncture, Studies Reveal

In a recent study in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, reported  on here, it was demonstrated that women who used acupuncture therapy and exercise in combination experienced much greater hormonal regulation and consequent normalization in their menstrual cycle than those who used conventional therapies. Other hormone dependent symptoms such as inappropriate hair growth and acne were also dramatically lessened.

I have always enjoyed treating PCOS because the improvements in women's lives can be so dramatic. Often, women come to the clinic solely to be treated for the irregular period or other discomfort associated with the disorder; while other times it is a significant factor interfering in their ability to conceive and thus forms a part of my work with them on infertility.

Chinese medicine has its own unique diagnostic methods with which to determine the best means of using acupuncture and Chinese herbs to get to the root of PCOS and make gradual and progressive changes that are usually long lasting and satisfying to the client. 

Research and Articles:

A study, which was published in Experimental Physiology and entitled Electrical and manual acupuncture stimulation affects estrous cyclicity and neuroendocrine function in a DHT-induced rat polycystic ovary syndrome model, [read about it here] found that, 

. . . both electrical and manual acupuncture “improve menstrual frequency and decrease circulating androgens in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).” PCOS is a common female endocrine disorder with side-effects including irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, anovulation, infertility, polycystic ovaries and excess quantities of androgenic hormones. Excess androgens may lead to acne, obesity due to insulin resistance, high cholesterol and hirsutism (excess facial and body hair).

Researchers have discovered that both electrical and manual acupuncture “improve menstrual frequency and decrease circulating androgens in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).” PCOS is a common female endocrine disorder with side-effects including irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, anovulation, infertility, polycystic ovaries and excess quantities of androgenic hormones. Excess androgens may lead to acne, obesity due to insulin resistance, high cholesterol and hirsutism (excess facial and body hair).

The researchers induced PCOS in rats using 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to determine whether or not electrical or manual acupuncture was superior in the regulation of menstruation. The rats received acupuncture five times per week for 4-5 weeks. The electroacupuncture group received 2 Hz stimulation at the acupuncture points. Untreated rats served as the control group.

The manual and electroacupuncture groups showed normalization of estrogen activity and a decrease in androgens. In addition, the electroacupuncture group showed changes in the central opioid receptors of the hypothalamus suggesting that electroacupuncture may be “mediated by central opioid receptors….” The manual acupuncture group showed changes in the steroid receptors of the hypothalamus suggesting that manual acupuncture “may involve regulation of steroid hormone/peptide receptors.”

Yet another study, published in The American Journal of Physiology – Endocrinology and Metabolism, [read about it here]

. . . concluded that low frequency electro-acupuncture improved menstrual frequency and balanced sex steroid levels in women with PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome.b This study measured blood changes in human female participants. Hyperandrogenism was measured in this study by determining the total concentration of testosterone, androgens, estrogens, androgen precursors, and glucuronidated androgen metabolites. The study measured that electro-acupuncture improved menstrual regularity in women with PCOS. The sex steroid levels in the electro-acupuncture group improved significantly and acne markedly decreased. The study measured improvements in a wide range of endocrine variables such that the researchers concluded that electro-acupuncture may help induce ovulation in women attempting to conceive since participants showed significant improvement in monthly menstrual frequency.