Acupuncture for the Treatment of Insomnia

Sleep disorders in patients with depression or schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial using acupuncture treatment

“…No beneficial effects of acupuncture were found for the other two objective variables (the total sleep time and the number of minutes being awake during the night) or for the third subjective variable (the average performance level) (see Table 3). These results are partly in line with the results by Reshef and colleagues [30,31], who found no significant improvements on questionnaires that patients had to complete, but did find improvements on an actiwatch (which is an instrument to collect behavioral data on specific sleep parameters such as "sleep efficiency", "sleep latency", "absolute actual sleep time", etc.) data for their patients with schizophrenia.…”

“…Psychological treatments such as stimulus control therapy, relaxation, paradoxical intention, sleep restriction, and cognitive-behavior therapy are used with success where available [28]. One relatively new method in non-Asian countries for the treatment of sleep disorders is the use of acupuncture as a non-pharmacological intervention technique because evidence exists that it may have beneficial effects as a treatment for insomnia [29][30][31].…”

Effect of Acupuncture on the Motor and Nonmotor Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease—A Review of Clinical Studies

“…Many clinical and basic studies reported that acupuncture including manual and electroacupuncture modulated the transmission of dopamine, noradrenalin, serotonin, glutamate, GABA; and the activation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis within central nervous system and peripheral nervous system [51,55,63]. These effects may be attributed to the improvement of PD nonmotor symptoms by acupuncture.…”

“…This may explain the insomnia-relieving effect of acupuncture. The results of those studies suggest that improvement of sleep disorders by acupuncture is potentially mediated by a variety of neurotransmitters including GABA, norepinephrine, melatonin, and beta endorphin, (for review, see [51]). …”

Electroacupuncture in Treating Residual Insomnia Associated With Depression: Lessons Learned

“…While some evidence supports acupuncture's effectiveness in treating insomnia [2][3][4][5] and in treating depression, [6][7][8] few studies have addressed acupuncture's efficacy in challenging situations where insomnia and depression coexist. 9 Residual insomnia from depression is resistant to a variety of treatments including medications and therapy.…”