Moxibustion treatment for primary osteoporosis: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Primary osteoporosis (POP) has a serious impact on quality of life for middle-aged and elderly, which particularly increase the risk of fracture. We conducted the systematic review to evaluate the effects of moxibustion for POP in randomized controlled trials (RCTs).Eight databases were searched from their inception to July 30, 2016. The RCTs reporting the moxibustion as a monotherapy or in combination with conventional therapy for POP were enrolled. The outcomes might be fracture incidence, quality of life, clinical symptoms, death attributed to osteoporosis, adverse effect, bone mineral density (BMD), and biochemical indicators. Literature selection, data abstraction, quality evaluation, and data analysis were in accordance with Cochrane standards.Thirteen trials including 808 patients were included. Meta-analysis was not conducted because of the obvious clinical or statistical heterogeneity. Limited evidence suggested that moxibustion plus anti-osteoporosis medicine might be more effective in relieving the pain (visual analogue scale scores average changed 2 scores between groups, 4 trials), increasing the BMD of femoral neck (average changed 0.4 g/cm2 between groups, 3 trials), and improving the level of bone gla protein, osteoprotegerin and bone alkaline phosphatase (2 trials) compared with anti-osteoporosis medicine alone. However, the quality of previous studies was evaluated as generally poor. The safety evidence of moxibustion was still insufficient. Due to the paucity of high-quality studies, there was no definite conclusion about the efficacy and safety of moxibustion treating POP although parts of positive results were presented. Future research should pay attention to the dose-response relation and fracture incidence of moxibustion for POP.

Effects of moxibustion on symptoms of mild cognitive impairment: protocol of a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…16 17 It regulates a multidimensional network that includes the nervous, endocrine and immune systems, all of which play important roles in maintaining homeostasis, potentially exerting significant therapeutic effects. [18][19][20][21][22] Various clinical trials and animal studies, mostly out of China, have been conducted to investigate the benefits and mechanisms of moxibustion for preventing and treating MCI. 23 24 In spite of its long history of use and clinical and experimental support, the effects of moxibustion for MCI have not been fully validated.…”

Acupuncture and moxibustion for primary osteoporosis

“…A total of 13 SR/Meta-analysis were included, [ 29 – 41 ] 3 in English, [ 29 – 31 ] 10 in Chinese, [ 32 – 41 ] and published in the years 2013 to 2018. The databases retrieved included the VIP, Wan Fang, and PubMed databases, the process of selection of study in Figure 1 .…”

Acupuncture for osteoporosis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…Because of its low side effects and obvious analgesic effect, it is widely used clinically in the adjuvant treatment of osteoporosis. Studies have shown that moxibustion plus anti-osteoporosis drugs may be more effective in alleviating osteoporotic pain, increase bone density in the femoral neck, and improve bone calcium and bone alkalinity phosphatase levels compared with anti-osteoporosis drugs alone [12]. Cochrane evaluation also shows that acupuncture may be an effective method of preventing osteoporosis.…”