Acupuncture therapy for the symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Interest in alternative medical treatments, including acupuncture, is increasing. Alternative treatments must be subjected to the same objective standards as all medical treatments. A non-blinded pilot study of the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of acupuncture (ACUPX) for the symptoms of (PD) was performed. Twenty PD patients (mean age, 68 years; disease duration, 8.5 years; Hoehn and Yahr [H&Y] stage, 2.2; Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale score [UPDRS], 38.7) each received acupuncture treatments by a licensed acupuncturist. All patients were treated with two acupuncture treatment sessions per week. The first seven patients received 10 treatments and the last 13 patients 16 treatments. Patients were evaluated before and after ACUPX with the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP); UPDRS; H & Y; Schwab and England (S & E); Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI); Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); quantitative motor tests, including timed evaluations of arm pronation supination movements, finger dexterity, finger movements between two fixed measured points, and the stand-walk-sit test; and a patient questionnaire designed for the study. Following ACUPX, there were no significant changes in the UPDRS, H&Y, S&E, BAI, BDI, quantitative motor tests, total SIP or the two SIP Dimension scores. Analysis of the 12 SIP categories not corrected for multiple comparisons revealed a post-ACUPX improvement in the sleep and rest category only (P = 0.03). On the patient questionnaire, 85% of patients reported subjective improvement of individual symptoms including tremor, walking, handwriting, slowness, pain, sleep, depression, and anxiety. There were no adverse effects. ACUPX therapy is safe and well tolerated in PD patients. A range of PD and behavioral scales failed to show improvement following ACUPX other than sleep benefit, although patients reported other discrete symptomatic improvements. A broad battery of tests in PD patients suggested that ACUPX resulted in improvement of sleep and rest only. This finding needs to be verified using more in-depth and controlled evaluation of ACUPX for PD-related sleep disturbance.

Practice Parameter: Neuroprotective strategies and alternative therapies for Parkinson disease (an evidence-based review): [RETIRED]

“…[32][33][34] One Class IV study of 20 patients suggested symptomatic benefit, although no objective improvement was demonstrated. 35 Manual therapy. A variety of manual therapy techniques including chiropractic manipulation, 36 osteopathic manipulation, 37 and Trager therapy 38 have all been suggested to be of benefit.…”

Acupuncture for Symptomatic Treatment of Fatigue in Parkinson's Disease: Trial Design and Implementation

“…[17][18][19][20] Options for prospective control groups include standard/usual care, wait-list, comparison between two active treatment protocols, or use of a placebo/sham acupuncture method. 21 To separate potential sources of therapeutic effects fully, it might be necessary to use multiple controls, for example, using a wait-list control to assess effects related to measurement and natural history; a sham treatment control to assess ''nonspecific'' acupuncture procedure effects; and a verum treatment group to assess acupuncture-specific effects.…”

Complementary Therapies for Parkinson's Disease: What's Promoted, Rationale, Potential Risks and Benefits

“…53 Two double-blinded studies involving PD patients, however, found no clear evidence of efficacy for acupuncture. 54,55 In all, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of acupuncture in patients with PD.…”