Acupuncture Clinical Trials in Process

Geriatric Times
January/February 2003
Vol. IV
Issue 1

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), established in 1998 as one of the National Institutes of Health, is currently sponsoring studies investigating acupuncture’s cost-effectiveness, safety and efficacy at reducing symptoms of disease. The value of acupuncture is being investigated in numerous chronic disorders, including:

Cardiovascular disease. This randomized, single-blind, active-control study of 200 healthy adults will evaluate acupuncture’s ability to stimulate skeletal muscle afferent neurons, which cause a release of endogenous opioids and limit vasoconstriction.

Cerebral palsy. Acupuncture is one of three nonconventional treatments being studied for their efficacy in decreasing muscle tension in children with spastic cerebral palsy. Efficacy of the three treatments, both alone and integrated with each other, as well as acceptance and compliance among patients’ families, will be explored.

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. This study will evaluate the effect of acupuncture in reducing nausea and vomiting and improving quality of life in patients receiving chemotherapy.

Colorectal cancer. The value of acupuncture in promoting relaxation and reducing psychological distress among patients with painful end-stage colorectal cancer will be explored in this trial.

Dental pain. This study is investigating the use of acupuncture to reduce pain following surgery for partially impacted mandibular third molars.

Depression. This long-term, randomized, double-blind study is evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture in 150 patients with major depression. It will also explore the convergence of Western-based and Chinese-medicine-based outcome measures and look for patient variables that may predict response to acupuncture treatment.

Fibromyalgia. Few interventions have shown sustained efficacy in patients with fibromyalgia. Two trials are underway. One is exploring the optimal duration of acupuncture treatment, the independent and synergistic effects of needle placement and needle stimulation, and appropriate control strategies. Another is evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture on pain threshold, analgesic use, physician global assessment, functional status, sleep, psychological distress and fatigue--all outcome measures that have implications for the future study of this treatment modality.

Hypertension. Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, investigators will test whether electro-acupuncture produces a long-lasting reduction in sympathetic nerve activity and blood pressure, demonstrating that these beneficial effects are scientifically robust and explicable in terms of modern scientific mechanisms.

Knee osteoarthritis. Two studies are being conducted. One is a randomized, controlled trial to evaluate improvement in pain and function in approximately 500 patients with knee osteoarthritis; a separate study, in conjunction with the first, will evaluate cost-effectiveness and long-term outcomes.

Low back pain. This randomized study involving 480 patients is comparing two approaches to the management of acute low back pain: usual care versus the choice of usual care, chiropractic, acupuncture or massage therapy. The study will measure efficacy and total utilization of pain-related services, as well as patients’ preferences for individual therapies and their expectations for improvement--JH