Posts Tagged ‘Nausea’

Cancer patient nausea reduced with acupuncture and “fake” acupuncture

Schwartz Posted in Acupuncture, Oncology，Tags: , , ,
27 March 2011
2

A new study shows that acupuncture and “fake”, or sham, acupuncture (which is needle-less acupuncture) both help to reduce the nausea that cancer patients routinely get. The study was published in the journal PLoS ONE. The following is the abstract from the study:

“Background

It is not known whether or not delivering acupuncture triggers mechanisms cited as placebo and if acupuncture or sham reduces radiotherapy-induced emesis more than standard care.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Cancer patients receiving radiotherapy over abdominal/pelvic regions were randomized to verum (penetrating) acupuncture (n = 109; 99 provided data) in the alleged antiemetic acupuncture point PC6 or sham acupuncture (n = 106; 101 provided data) performed with a telescopic non-penetrating needle at a sham point 2–3 times/week during the whole radiotherapy period. The acupuncture cohort was compared to a reference cohort receiving standard care (n = 62; 62 provided data). The occurrence of emesis in each group was compared after a mean dose of 27 Gray. Nausea and vomiting were experienced during the preceding week by 37 and 8% in the verum acupuncture group, 38 and 7% in the sham acupuncture group and 63 and 15% in the standard care group, respectively. The lower occurrence of nausea in the acupuncture cohort (verum and sham) compared to patients receiving standard care (37% versus 63%, relative risk (RR) 0.6, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.5–0.8) was also true after adjustment for potential confounding factors for nausea (RR 0.8, CI 0.6 to 0.9). Nausea intensity was lower in the acupuncture cohort (78% no nausea, 13% a little, 8% moderate, 1% much) compared to the standard care cohort (52% no nausea, 32% a little, 15% moderate, 2% much) (p = 0.002). The acupuncture cohort expected antiemetic effects from their treatment (95%). Patients who expected nausea had increased risk for nausea compared to patients who expected low risk for nausea (RR 1.6; Cl 1.2–2.4).

Conclusions/Significance

Patients treated with verum or sham acupuncture experienced less nausea and vomiting compared to patients receiving standard care, possibly through a general care effect or due to the high level of patient expectancy.”

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0014766

 

 

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post Post to Delicious Delicious Post to Digg Digg This Post Post to Facebook Facebook Post to Reddit Reddit Post to StumbleUpon Stumble This Post

Acupuncture for gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary disorders

Schwartz Posted in Acupuncture, Gastrointestinal，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
10 September 2010
0

The following is an abstract from a study by Diehl in the Feb. 1999 Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine.

“Acupuncture has been used for various gastrointestinal (GI) conditions. Voluminous data support the effect of acupuncture on the physiology of the GI tract, including acid secretion, motility, neurohormonal changes, and changes in sensory thresholds. Much of the neuroanatomic pathway of these effects has been identified in animal models. A large body of clinical evidence supports the effectiveness of acupuncture for suppressing nausea associated with chemotherapy, postoperative state, and pregnancy. Prospective randomized controlled trials have also shown the efficacy of acupuncture for analgesia for endoscopic procedures, including colonoscopy and upper endoscopy. Acupuncture has also been used for a variety of other conditions including postoperative ileus, achalasia, peptic ulcer disease, functional bowel diseases (including irritable bowel syndrome and nonulcer dyspepsia), diarrhea, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, expulsion of gallstones and biliary ascariasis, and pain associated with pancreatitis. Although there are few prospective randomized clinical studies, the well-documented physiological basis of acupuncture effects on the GI tract, and the extensive history of successful clinical use of acupuncture, makes this a promising modality that warrants further investigation.”

Acupuncture has shown to be effective for a variety of gastrointestinal disorders. We specialize in acupuncture treatments for GI disorders and much more. Please contact us today if you would like to schedule a personal consultation with one of  gastrointestinal specialists.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post Post to Delicious Delicious Post to Digg Digg This Post Post to Facebook Facebook Post to Reddit Reddit Post to StumbleUpon Stumble This Post

Chinese Herbs Found to Ease Side Effects of Chemotherapy

Schwartz Posted in Chinese Medicine, Oncology，Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
27 August 2010
0

Yung-Chi “Tommy” Cheng
Yung-Chi “Tommy” Cheng

August 18, 2010

“New Haven, Conn. — A combination of Chinese herbs in use for more than 1,800 years reduced the gastrointestinal side effects of chemotherapy in mice, while actually enhancing the effects of the cancer treatment, Yale University researchers report.

The formula used in the experiment consists of four herbs, called PHY906, and is based on a herbal recipe called Huang Qin Tang, used historically to treat nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The study, published August 18 in the journal Science Translational Medicine, asked whether the use of the formula could reduce gastrointestinal effects of a common chemotherapy drug without affecting its ability to kill cancerous cells.

Video: Yung-Chi “Tommy” Cheng, Henry Bronson professor of pharmacology, co-director of the Yale Cancer Center’s Developmental Therapeutics program and senior author of the paper. Watch »

Chemotherapy causes a number of toxic side effects, which are usually treated with several different drugs with mixed success.

“Chemotherapy causes great distress for millions of patients, but PHY906 has multiple biologically active compounds which can act on multiple sources of discomfort,” said Yung-Chi “Tommy” Cheng, Henry Bronson professor of pharmacology, co-director of the Yale Cancer Center’s Developmental Therapeutics program and senior author of the paper.

Mice undergoing chemotherapy that were given PHY906 lost less weight and experienced more anti-tumor activity than mice not given the formula, the team reported.

The herbal formula reduced toxicity of the chemotherapy by multiple mechanisms, including the inhibiting inflammation and promoting the creation of new intestinal cells, the team reported. This cannot be accomplished by current drugs, which usually target only one mechanism.

“This combination of chemotherapy and herbs represents a marriage of Western and Eastern approaches to the treatment of cancer,” Cheng said.

Cheng is the co-discover of PHY906 and, with Yale, has a financial interest in PhytoCeutica Inc., a New Haven company developing the formula.

The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Wing Lam of Yale was lead author of the paper. Other Yale authors include Scott Bussom, Fulan Guan, Zaoli Jiang, Wei Zhang, Elizabeth A. Gullen, Shwu-Huey Liu, Yung-Chi Cheng.”

Source: Yale University

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post Post to Delicious Delicious Post to Digg Digg This Post Post to Facebook Facebook Post to Reddit Reddit Post to StumbleUpon Stumble This Post