The Effects of Acupuncture on the Levels of Blood Pressure and Nitric Oxide in Hypertensive Patients

Abstract

Hypertension possess a significant risk factor for a variety of diseases and affects millions of people all around the world. Recent studies suggest that NO plays a role in pathogenesis of hypertension while some investigators find a close relationship between acupuncture treatment and NO levels. We therefore aimed to investigate the effect of acupuncture on the levels of blood pressure and nitric oxide (NO) in hypertensive patients. After obtaining institutional ethics committee approval and patients' informed consent, 32 essential hypertensive patients aged between 32-65 and taking antihypertensive drugs were included to the study. A total of 10 sessions of manual acupuncture were applied on body acupoints (EX-HN3 (Yintang), KI 3, LIV 3, SP 9, LI 4, HT 7, ST 36, SP 6) in 10 weeks. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) levels and blood NO levels were measured for 3 times (i.e. before & after the first session, and after the 10 th session). Main outcome measures of our study were the changes in SBP and DBP as well as nitric oxide levels between 3 measurements were compared. Our study showed that SBP and DBP values decreased both after the 1st and 10th sessions of acupuncture treatments (p<0.05). The NO concentration also increased both after the 1st (71.5%) and 10th sessions (184.6%) (p<0.05).

Effects of catgut-embedding acupuncture technique on nitric oxide levels and blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension

“…A significant difference between was observed between the two groups (p = 0.045). The results of this study on catgut embedding support those of Kim et al, Hwang et al and Severcan et al [16,17,28] which focus on other techniques of acupuncture.…”

Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation Increased Nitric Oxide-Cyclic GMP Release Biocaptured Over Skin Surface of Pericardium Meridian and Acupuncture Points in Humans

“…A number of studies have demonstrated that localized TENS augments microcirculation and angiogenesis, thus having wound-healing applications in animal and human subjects [2,6-8]. TENS, acupuncture, and acupuncture-like stimulation affects regional blood flow in skin, and produces changes in arterial blood pressure and blood nitric oxide (NO) level [9-11]. Thus, it is suggested that TENS potentially can improve symptoms caused by peripheral vascular diseases [7,8,12].…”

A text-mining analysis on the application of traditional Chinese medicine external therapy and food therapy in hypertension treatment

“…For example, the acupuncture therapy prevents and treats diseases by stimulating certain acupoints with metallic needles, the auricular-plaster therapy regulates the body functions by stimulating the auricular points using the seed of cowherb, and the massage and Tuina therapies are both the therapeutic manipulations on specific body regions. Although both clinical studies [2,3] and experimental studies [4,5] have indicated the effects of these external therapy techniques, the mechanisms are still far from clarity and the study should be deepened.…”