Effect of Acupuncture-Point Stimulation on Diastolic Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Subjects: A Preliminary Study (original) (raw)
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Abdominal and auricular acupuncture reduces blood pressure in hypertensive patients
Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2017
Introduction: Hypertension is an important risk factor of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is associated with premature death, myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and renal disease. The goal of the present study was to use a randomized controlled clinical trial to explore and compare the effectiveness of abdominal and auricular acupuncture on blood pressure in 440 subjects with and without obesity. Methods: Four hundred participants were recruited and randomized to one of four groups: cases and controls receiving auricular acupuncture (204 subjects) and cases and controls receiving abdominal electroacupuncture (196 subjects). Blood pressure and anthropometric parameters were measured before and after the intervention period. In order to match the initial diet of the groups, participants were required to follow an isocaloric diet for two weeks before the trial, and a low-calorie diet for 6 weeks during the intervention period. Results: We observed a significant time dependent improvement in the systolic blood pressure measurements in the abdominal intervention group, although this improvement was more pronounce in the first period of study. Of note, in the auricular intervention group, a significant increasing in the level of SBP was detected. Importantly no statistically significant changes were found in the corresponding sham groups. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that abdominal electro-acupuncture for 6 weeks reduced both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and auricular acupuncture had a short-term adverse effect on both SBP and DBP.
Randomized Trial of Acupuncture to Lower Blood Pressure
Circulation, 2007
Background-Arterial hypertension is a prime cause of morbidity and mortality in the general population. Pharmacological treatment has limitations resulting from drug side effects, costs, and patient compliance. Thus, we investigated whether traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture is able to lower blood pressure. Methods and Results-We randomized 160 outpatients (age, 58Ϯ8 years; 78 men) with uncomplicated arterial hypertension in a single-blind fashion to a 6-week course of active acupuncture or sham acupuncture (22 sessions of 30 minutes' duration). Seventy-eight percent were receiving antihypertensive medication, which remained unchanged. Primary outcome parameters were mean 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure levels after the treatment course and 3 and 6 months later. One hundred forty patients finished the treatment course (72 with active treatment, 68 with sham treatment). There was a significant (PϽ0.001) difference in posttreatment blood pressures adjusted for baseline values between the active and sham acupuncture groups at the end of treatment. For the primary outcome, the difference between treatment groups amounted to 6.4 mm Hg (95% CI, 3.5 to 9.2) and 3.7 mm Hg (95% CI, 1.6 to 5.8) for 24-hour systolic and diastolic blood pressures, respectively. In the active acupuncture group, mean 24-hour ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressures decreased significantly after treatment by 5.4 mm Hg (95% CI, 3.2 to 7.6) and 3.0 mm Hg (95% CI, 1.5 to 4.6), respectively. At 3 and 6 months, mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures returned to pretreatment levels in the active treatment group. Conclusions-Acupuncture according to traditional Chinese medicine, but not sham acupuncture, after 6 weeks of treatment significantly lowered mean 24-hour ambulatory blood pressures; the effect disappeared after cessation of acupuncture treatment. (Circulation. 2007;115:3121-3129.)
2007
Case studies and small trials suggest that acupuncture may effectively treat hypertension, but no large randomized trials have been reported. The Stop Hypertension with the Acupuncture Research Program pilot trial enrolled 192 participants with untreated blood pressure (BP) in the range of 140/90 to 179/109 mm Hg. The design of the trial combined rigorous methodology and adherence to principles of traditional Chinese medicine. Participants were weaned off antihypertensives before enrollment and were then randomly assigned to 3 treatments: individualized traditional Chinese acupuncture, standardized acupuncture at preselected points, or invasive sham acupuncture. Participants received ≤12 acupuncture treatments over 6 to 8 weeks. During the first 10 weeks after random assignment, BP was monitored every 14 days, and antihypertensives were prescribed if BP exceeded 180/110 mm Hg. The mean BP decrease from baseline to 10 weeks, the primary end point, did not differ significantly between participants randomly assigned to active (individualized and standardized) versus sham acupuncture (systolic BP:-3.56 versus-3.84 mm Hg, respectively; 95% CI for the difference:-4.0 to 4.6 mm Hg; P = 0.90; diastolic BP:-4.32 versus-2.81 mm Hg, 95% CI for the difference:-3.6 to 0.6 mm Hg; P = 0.16). Categorizing participants by age, race, gender, baseline BP, history of antihypertensive use, obesity, or primary traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis did not reveal any subgroups for which the benefits of active acupuncture differed significantly from sham acupuncture. Active acupuncture provided no greater benefit than invasive sham acupuncture in reducing systolic or diastolic BP.
Medical Acupuncture, 2015
Background: Acupuncture at specific acupoints has experimentally been found to reduce chronically elevated blood pressure. Objective: To examine effectiveness of electroacupuncture (EA) at select acupoints to reduce systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressures (DBP) in hypertensive patients. Design: Two-arm parallel study. Patients: Sixty-five hypertensive patients not receiving medication were assigned randomly to one of the two acupuncture intervention (33 versus 32 patients). Intervention: Patients were assessed with 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. They were treated with 30-minutes of EA at PC 5-6 + ST 36-37 or LI 6-7 + GB 37-39 once weekly for 8 weeks. Four acupuncturists provided single-blinded treatment. Main outcome measures: Primary outcomes measuring effectiveness of EA were peak and average SBP and DBP. Secondary outcomes examined underlying mechanisms of acupuncture with plasma norepinephrine, renin, and aldosterone before and after 8 weeks of treatment. Outcomes were obtained by double-blinded evaluation. Results: After 8 weeks, 33 patients treated with EA at PC 5-6 + ST 36-37 had decreased peak and average SBP and DBP, compared with 32 patients treated with EA at LI 6-7 + GB 37-39 control acupoints. Changes in blood pressures significantly differed between the two patient groups. In 14 patients, a long-lasting blood pressurelowering acupuncture effect was observed for an additional 4 weeks of EA at PC 5-6 + ST 36-37. After treatment, the plasma concentration of norepinephrine, which was initially elevated, was decreased by 41%; likewise, renin was decreased by 67% and aldosterone by 22%. Conclusions: EA at select acupoints reduces blood pressure. Sympathetic and renin-aldosterone systems were likely related to the long-lasting EA actions.
The Hypotensive Role of Acupuncture in Hypertension: Clinical Study and Mechanistic Study
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2020
As a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), acupuncture has the potential to lower blood pressure (BP) in patients with hypertension. Emerging evidence indicates that the acupuncture-induced inhibition of high BP occurs through the activation of the pathway in the afferent, central, and efferent pathways. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that acupuncture not only activates distinct brain regions under conditions of hypertension caused by an imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems but also modulates neurotransmitters in related brain regions to alleviate the autonomic response. The activity of these pathways can be assessed by injecting agonists or inhibitors or by performing neurotomy. This review focuses on the clinical and mechanistic studies of acupuncture in modulating BP, which might provide a neurobiological foundation for the effects of acupuncture. Although many mechanisms underlying the effects of acupuncture on cardiovascular function have been identified, further investigation is warranted.
The Effect of Acupuncture Therapy on Reducing Blood Pressure in Hypertension Patients: Meta-Analysis
Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health, 2021
Background: Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine for treating ailments, including diseases of the cardiovascular system, such as hypertension. Acupuncture modulates neurohumoral regulatory systems and cardiovascular function. This study aims to estimate the effectiveness of acupuncture therapy in reducing blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Subjects and Method: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis, with PICO, namely Population= hypertension cases aged 20-80 years. Intervention= acupuncture therapy. Comparison= Sham/ Placebo/ No Treatment Acupuncture. Outcome = Blood pressure. The articles used in this study were obtained from several databases including Google Scholar, MEDLINE/ PubMed, Science Direct, Hindawi, BMC, Europe PMC and Springer Link. These articles were collected for 1 month. The keywords to search for articles were as follows: "acupuncture", "hypertension", "randomized controlled trial", "hypertension randomized controlled trial", "acupuncture randomized controlled trial", "acupuncture for primary hypertension", "acupuncture for hypertension essential" AND "acupuncture for blood pressure". The articles included in this study are full text articles with a randomized controlled trial study design. Articles were collected using PRISMA flow diagrams and analyzed using the Review Manager application (RevMan) 5.3. Results: A total of 9 articles were reviewed in this meta-analysis. Articles are from America, Germany, Korea, China, India and Taiwan. The study showed that acupuncture therapy was able to reduce systolic blood pressure with the Standardized Mean Different by 0.54 compared to sham acupuncture /placebo/no treatment (SMD= 0.54; 95% CI=-1.04 to-0.04; p<0.05). Acupuncture reduced diastolic blood pressure 0.49 units (SMD= 0.49; 95% CI=-0.99 to 0.02; p>0.05) compared to sham acupuncture/ placebo, but it was statistically non significant. Conclusion: Acupuncture can reduce systolic blood pressure, but it is less significant in reducing diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive patients.
Controlled Clinical Trials, 2004
Hypertension is a major public health problem with serious medical and financial consequences. Barriers to successful conventional pharmacological treatment include side effects, out-of-pocket expenses, patient noncompliance and insufficient dosages. Acupuncture has been studied as an alternative therapy for controlling blood pressure (BP) but previous studies have serious methodological limitations. This paper describes the design of the Stop Hypertension with the Acupuncture Research Program (SHARP) trial, a pilot randomized clinical trial designed to gather preliminary data regarding the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)based acupuncture for control of essential hypertension. The design of the SHARP trial balanced rigorous clinical trial methodology with principles of TCM. Eligible participants had systolic BP (SBP) 140 -179 mm Hg and diastolic BP (DBP) 90-109 mm Hg in the absence of antihypertensive therapy. Following screening, participants were randomized to one of three groups: individualized, standardized or control acupuncture. Treatments were designed according to principles of TCM; nonspecific effects associated with the interventions were standardized across the randomized groups. For individualized acupuncture, points were tailored to each
Common parameters of acupuncture for the treatment of hypertension used in animal models
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2015
Hypertension is associated with at least 7.6 million annual deaths worldwide. While pharmacotherapy may provide good control for blood pressure, it sometimes induces adverse effects. Meanwhile, acupuncture has been used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, and stroke, but its mechanisms of actions remain poorly understood. The efficacy of acupuncture depends on multiple constituent elements including acupoints, manipulation skills, and implementation programs, which are termed as acupuncture prescription. This review summarized the previous information of experimental use of acupuncture on animals including species, hypertension models, acupoints selection, acupoint location, stimulation protocols, and evaluation of effectiveness to provide useful guidance for researchers when performing acupuncture in animal experiments.