Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2017 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 7 Articles
This study is to investigate the correlations among Sanjian (LI3), Hegu (LI4), and Yangxi (LI5) acupoints and their corresponding\nnonacupoints on the Yangming Large Intestine Meridian of Hand before and after laser irradiation using optical coherence\ntomography (OCT) and diffuse reflectance spectra. The experiment was conducted on 10 healthy people. A 658 nm laser with\n50mW output power was used for irradiating LI4, LI5 acupoints and their corresponding nonacupoints. As to LI4 acupoint with\nlaser irradiation for duration of 15 or 45 minutes, the OCT backscattered light intensities of LI4 and LI5 acupoints increased\nsignificantly, and the reflectance intensities (RIs) of the LI3, LI4, and LI5 acupoints decreased significantly. As to LI5 acupoint\nwith laser irradiation for duration of 15 or 45 minutes, the changes of OCT backscattered light intensities of the corresponding\nirradiated acupoint and LI4 acupoint increased significantly, and the RIs decreased significantly. However, the OCT backscattered\nlight intensities and RIs for their nonacupoints were almost not changed. The results show that an association exists between two\nadjacent same-meridian acupoints on the same meridian after laser-needle acupuncture to some extent....
Background: Acupuncture is considered a complementary and alternative medicine in many countries. The\npurpose of this study was to report the pattern of acupuncture use and associated factors in patients with stroke.\nMethods: We used claims data from Taiwanââ?¬â?¢s National Health Insurance Research Database and identified 285001\nnew-onset stroke patients in 2000ââ?¬â??2008 from 23 million people allover Taiwan. The use of acupuncture treatment\nafter stroke within one year was identified. We compared sociodemographics, coexisting medical conditions, and\nstroke characteristics between stroke patients who did and did not receive acupuncture treatment.\nResults: The use of acupuncture in stroke patients increased from 2000 to 2008. Female gender, younger age,\nwhite-collar employee status, higher income, and residence in areas with more traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)\nphysicians were factors associated with acupuncture use in stroke patients. Ischemic stroke (odds ratio [OR] 1.21,\n95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.15ââ?¬â??1.28), having no renal dialysis (OR 2.76, 95 % CI 2.45ââ?¬â??3.13), receiving rehabilitation\n(OR 3.20, 95 % CI 3.13ââ?¬â??3.27) and longer hospitalization (OR 1.23, 95 % CI 1.19ââ?¬â??1.27) were also associated with\nacupuncture use. Stroke patients using rehabilitation services were more likely to have more acupuncture visits and\na higher expenditure on acupuncture compared with stroke patients who did not receive rehabilitation services.\nConclusions: The application of acupuncture in stroke patients is well accepted and increasing in Taiwan. The use\nof acupuncture in stroke patients is associated with sociodemographic factors and clinical characteristics....
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of using the traditional Chinese herbal medicine Scutellaria baicalensis\nfor the treatment of severeHFMDin 725 patients aged >1 year in amulticenter, retrospective analysis.Thepatientswere divided into\nthe S. baicalensis and ribavirin groups, and the temperatures, presence or absence of skin rashes and oral lesions, nervous system\n(NS) involvement, and viral loads of the patients, as well as the safety of the treatments, were evaluated. The median duration of\nfever, median time to NS involvement, and the number of patients with oral ulcers and/or vesicles, as well as skin rashes, were\ndecreased in the S. baicalensis group compared with the ribavirin group. In addition, the EV71 viral loads were decreased in the\nS. baicalensis group, suggesting that S. baicalensis exerted more potent antiviral effects compared with ribavirin. The present study\ndemonstrated that S. baicalensis was suitable for the treatment of severeHFMDin patients aged >1 year, since itwas shown to rapidly\nrelieve fever, attenuate oral lesions and rashes, and improve NS involvement. Furthermore, it was demonstrated to be relatively safe\nfor topical application....
Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a hypercoagulable state and is associated with highly increased risk of\nvascular complications. In the theory of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), these vascular complications are\nclassified as blood stasis. Diagnosis of the tongue plays an important role in TCM; a bluish tongue, petechiae, and\nengorged sublingual collateral vessels are manifestations of blood stasis. This study aimed to characterize the\ntongue manifestations of blood stasis and derive a relationship between blood stasis and vascular disorders in\npatients with type 2 DM.\nMethod: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 140 patients with type 2 DM, and compared demography,\nlaboratory, physical examination, ankle brachial index(ABI), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV), and tongue\nmanifestation datas. An automatic tongue diagnosis system was used to capture tongue images and characterize\nclinical tongue manifestations.\nResults: A bluish or petechiae tongue was assoicated with a significant decrease in high-density lipoprotein level,\nand bluish tongue was associated with significant increase in blood triglyceride in patients with type 2 DM. On\nassessing arterial stiffness, patients with a petechiae tongue had a higher ba-PWV for both sides (L:1938.41 �± 469.\n54 cm/sec v.s.1723.99 �± 302.16, p = 0.02; R:1937.28 �± 405.55 v.s.1741.99 �± 325.82, p = 0.03).\nConclusion: Blood stasis, particularly a tongue with petechiae, may be associated with arterial stiffness in patients\nwith type 2 DM. Furthermore, tongue diagnosis could detect blood stasis relevant to DM and could serve as a\nfeasible predictor for DM....
Background: To assess the efficacy and safety of the herbal medicine, Weng-li-tong (WLT) as monotherapy or\ncombined with tolterodine in women with overactive bladder (OAB).\nMethods: A prospective, randomized, single-blind multi-center trial was performed which included 182 OAB\npatients treated with either placebo (n = 26), WLT (n = 52), tolterodine (n = 52) or WLT plus tolterodine (n = 52). The\noveractive bladder symptom score (OABSS) and micturition behavior were measured to evaluate treatment efficacy.\nResults: In total, 146 patients [placebo (n = 23), WLT (n = 39), tolterodine (n = 41) and WLT plus tolterodine (n = 43)]\ncompleted 8 weeks of treatment. Compared to those treated with placebo, patients in three intervention groups\nshowed significant improvements in the OABSS, voiding frequency, average voided volume and urgency\nincontinence. WLT had a slower onset than tolterodine or combination therapy in reducing urgency incontinence.\nCompared with tolterodine, WLT had a weaker effect in improving OABSS (P = 0.022) and daily voiding frequency\n(P = 0.034). The combination therapy had better efficacy than WLT or tolterodine alone in improving the OABSS,\nvoiding frequency and voided volume. No significant differences in the changes in quality of life scores were\nobserved among the three intervention groups. Residual urine increased significantly in tolterodine group\n(P = 0.004), but not in combination group. WLT resulted in fewer adverse effects than tolterodine such as dry\nmouth (P = 0.002), weak stream (P = 0.002) and less residual urine (P < 0.001).\nConclusions: WLT could improve OAB symptoms in women, while it had slower onset and weaker efficacy but\nfewer adverse effects than tolterodine. The combination of WLT and tolterodine was more efficacious than\ntolterodine alone in improving OAB symptoms....
Background: Do In Seung Gi-Tang (DISGT) is an herbal mixture of traditional Korean medicine that is composed of\nRheum undulatum Linne, Prunus Persica (L.) Batsch, Conyza canadensis L., Cinnamomum Cassia Presl, and Glycytthiza\nuralensis Fischer (8: 6: 4: 4: 4 ratio). We investigated the effect of DISGT on vascular inflammation and lipid\naccumulation in apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoEâË?â??/âË?â??) mice.\nMethods: ApoEâË?â??/âË?â?? mice that were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) were treated with DISGT (300 mg/kg/day) or statin\n(10 mg/kg/day) for 16 weeks. Serum lipid levels were analyzed. Oil Red O staining was used to evaluate\natherosclerotic lesions and lipid accumulation in the aorta and liver, respectively. The expression of adhesion\nmolecules (intercellular adhesion molecule-1 [ICAM-1], vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 [VCAM-1], and E-selectin),\nfatty acid synthase (FAS), adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), and acetyl-coA carboxylase\n(ACC) in the aorta or liver tissues was measured by western blot analysis. Lipid synthesis and inflammatory\nresponses were assessed by immunohistochemistry and hematoxylin & eosin staining, respectively.\nResults: Treatment of HFD-fed mice with DISGT significantly lowered body weight, liver weight, and the levels of\nlipids, including total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and triglycerides. Glucose levels were also\nlowered. In the aorta, DISGT attenuated atherosclerotic lesions and reduced the expression of ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and\nE-selectin. Moreover, DISGT decreased lipid accumulation, inflammatory responses, and FAS levels, and it activated\nAMPK and reduced ACC expression in liver tissues.\nConclusions: The beneficial, anti-lipolytic, and anti-inflammatory effects of DISGT were mediated by the AMPK\npathway. As a result, the expression of inflammatory factors was reduced. Our data provide evidence that DISGT\nmay have strong therapeutic potential in treating vascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis....
Background: Current clinical practices used to functionally classify heart failure (HF) are time-consuming, expensive,\nor require complex calculations. This study aimed to design an inquiry list from the perspective of traditional\nChinese medicine (TCM) that could be used in routine clinical practice to resolve these problems.\nMethods: The severity of documented HF in 115 patients was classified according to their performance in maximal\nexercise tests into New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification (FC) II or NYHA FC III. Concomitantly,\nthe patients were assessed using the new TCM inquiry list and two validated quality of life questionnaires, namely,\nthe Short Form 36 (SF-36) generic scale and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ).\nFactor analysis was applied to extract the core factors from the responses to the items in TCM inquiry list;\nlogistic regression analysis was then used to predict the severity of HF according to the extracted factors.\nResults: The TCM inquiry list showed moderate levels of correlation with the physical and emotional components\nof the SF-36 and the MLHFQ, and predicted the functional class of HF patients reliably using logistic regression\nanalysis, with a correct prediction rate with 64.3 %. Factor analysis of the TCM inquiry list extracted five core factors,\nnamely, Qi Depression, Heart Qi Vacuity and Blood Stasis, Heart Blood Vacuity, Dual Qi-Blood Vacuity,\nand Yang Vacuity, from the list, which aligned with the perspective of TCM as it relates to the pattern of HF.\nThe correct prediction rate rose to 70.4 % when Dual Qi-Blood Vacuity was combined with the MLHFQ. The excessive\nfalse-negative rate is a problem associated with the TCM inquiry list.\nConclusions: The TCM inquiry list is a simple scale and similar to patient-reported subjective measures of quality of\nlife in HF, and may help to classify patients into NYHA FC II or NYHA FC III. Factor 4 addresses dizziness, dizzy vision\nand general weakness, which are critical parameters that distinguish between NYHA FC II and NYHA FC III.\nIncorporating these three items into the management of HF may help to classify patients from a functional\nperspective....
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