This study provides evidence that homeopathic medicines, as prescribed by experienced homeopathic practitioners, improve severity of asthma in children. Controlled studies should be conducted.
Variable therapy of asthma is not sufficient yet to achieve good asthma control. Therapy decision requires serial investigations. Low-level laser acupuncture is a suitable non-invasive modality of complementary medicine. The exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is easy and useful to evaluate the efficacy of drugs or novel therapy. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of low-level laser biostimulation of acupuncture points on asthma improvement in children. Forty-eight asthmatic children were subdivided into case (laser) group, which received 12 direct contact low-power laser acupuncture sessions (three sessions/week) on specific traditional Chinese acupuncture points for bronchial asthma, and control asthmatic group, which received sham laser acupuncture on the same acupoints and number of sessions of the case (laser) group. Low-power Multichannel Aculas-AM laser (grade II) of wave length 780 nm, output power 800 mw, and beam spot size 0.1 cm with continuous mode was used. Eighteen acupoints were stimulated for 2 min, giving energy of 9.6 J/cm/acupoint. The total session time was 3 min. Both groups were evaluated pre- and post-laser acupuncture intervention by recording levels of asthma control, pulmonary function, and EBC nitric oxide. In the case (laser) group, 91.7 % of patients experienced an improvement in the level of asthma control versus 25 % in the control group (p < 0.001). This was associated with a significant decrease of the breath condensate FENO concentration (p < 0.001) and significant increase of spirometry parameters (p < 0.001) in the case (laser) group. Application of laser acupuncture treatment given with conventional therapy can effectively improve bronchial asthma more than prescription of medications alone could.
Traditional medicine may not control bronchial asthma. Many patients have uncontrolled symptoms and the underlying ongoing inflammation is persistent. Objective: to assess efficacy of laser acupuncture in improving asthma symptoms and underlying oxidative stress through monitoring exhaled 8-isoprostane. Method: 48 asthmatic (case group) received successive low level laser acupuncture sessions to stimulate acupoints for chronic asthma and 24 asthmatics received deactivated laser acupuncture sessions (control group). Asthma symptoms, asthma control questionnaire, concentration of 8-Isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate and airway resistance were assessed before and after laser acupuncture therapy. Results: After the completion of the course of laser acupuncture therapy, we observed significant improvement of asthma symptoms. Asthma control questionnaire improved from 9.7 ± 3.3 to 21.8 ± 3.6 (p 0.001). EBC 8-Isoprostane dropped from 14.7 ± 5.4 to 8.1 ± 5.0 (p 0.001). The airway resistance at R5 and R20 significantly decreased from 116.6 ± 25.8 & 124.5 ± 31.2 to 101.5 ± 25.6 &110.9 ± 29.9 respectively (p 0.001). Control patients who received sham acupuncture therapy did not show such improvement. Conclusion: Laser acupuncture is an effective modality in treating bronchial asthma as evidenced by improved symptoms, airway resistance, and oxidative biomarkers.
Objective Bronchial asthma is one of the most common illnesses in children. The chronicity of bronchial asthma and fear of steroid therapy cause many patients to seek alternative methods of treatment such as acupuncture.Methods Twelve acupuncture sessions were performed for 30 children with asthma during their conventional medical treatment at certain points according to traditional Chinese medicine for 1 month. Pulmonary functions, interleukin-6, immunoglobulin E, and eosinophilic count were measured before and after the sessions. Clinical grading and medications used before and after the acupuncture sessions were also evaluated.Results There were significant improvements in pulmonary functions: vital capacity% (P < 0.001), forced vital capacity% (P < 0.001), forced expiratory volume (FEV) 1 % (P < 0.001), forced expiratory flow (FEF) 25-75% (P < 0.001), peaked expiratory flow% (P < 0.001), FEF 25% (P < 0.001), FEF 50% (P < 0.001), and FEF 75% (P < 0.001).There were significant decreases in all laboratory investigations. However, there were improvements in the clinical condition of the patients and there was also a decrease in the medications used.Conclusion Acupuncture improves pulmonary functions of children with bronchial asthma; it decreases the serum levels of eosinophilic count and cytokines.
High serum cholesterol is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis. This cross-sectional study (n = 102) investigated the levels of total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) in Egyptian girls aged 11 to 16 years attending a middle-class public school. The mean TC level was 194.27 ± 21.97 mg/dl, and 33.33% of girls had TC levels > 200 mg/dl. The mean TG level was 160.07 ± 30.83 mg/dl, with 3.92% of the girls showing TG levels > 2 00 mg/dl. Most of the girls (65.69%) were overweight, with body mass index (BMI) >25. Univariate analyses revealed an association of TC and TG with all anthropometric measures. Using stepwise regression analyses, the best model for prediction of TC was with BMI and central body fat (explaining 24.76% of TC variance); the final model for TG was with BMI, central body fat, and abdominal skinfold thickness (explaining 47.49% of TG variance). Our data show that these adolescent Egyptian girls were heavier and had higher blood lipid concentrations than subjects in the Bogalusa study and other studies worldwide. Further studies are needed to determine the factors associated with these higher lipid levels and to develop appropriate intervention programmes.
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