Pricking for Your Benefit

By Rajen M.

OSTEOARTHRITIS is a major cause of loss of motion and reduced quality of life especially in the elderly, and more so among the fairer sex.

It is the most common form of arthritis and occurs most frequently in the knee.

Currently, there is no non-surgical cure for the disease. The focus of treatment is the management of pain and functional limitation.

Although patient education, physical therapy, exercise, and weight loss are all an important part of intervention, medications are eventually required.

However, medications can cause serious side effects. Apart from the gastro-related effects, drugs prescribed for this condition have been implicated in heart disease, stoke and internal bleeding.

Not surprisingly, alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, are receiving attention.

In Mandarin acupunture is referred to as zhe-n bia-n. It is a technique of inserting and manipulating fine needles into specific points on the body with the aim of relieving pain and for therapeutic purposes.

These acupuncture points lie along meridians along which qi, a kind of vital energy , is said to flow.

This ancient science of acupuncture may come across as a safe and effective aid of helpless suffers. It seems to improve the outcome of other forms of treatment.

While results of various trials suggest that acupuncture may be beneficial in treating the pain associated with knee osteoarthritis, its role is still controversial. Still, the procedure if done by a trained professional is safe.

Two published studies by Western scientists demonstrate that patients with knee osteoarthritis who receive acupuncture as a complementary (adjunctive) therapy experience better results than those who receive patient education or drug treatment alone.

In one study, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine evaluated 570 elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis to determine whether acupuncture provides greater pain relief and improved function compared with “fake” acupuncture or patient education only.

The patients were randomly assigned to either a treatment group that received a total of 23 true acupuncture sessions over 26 weeks, or a control group that received six two-hour education sessions over 12 weeks or 23 fake acupuncture sessions over 26 weeks.

Similarly, Spanish researchers evaluated the effectiveness of a 12-week series of acupuncture treatments as a complementary therapy in 97 patients with knee osteoarthritis who were being treated with diclofenac, a non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used as a standard in treatment of the condition.

Like the first study, patients were randomly assigned to receive acupuncture (treatment group) or “fake” acupuncture (control group).

Measurements taken during both studies used the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) to quantify the pain level and functional disability experienced.

The Maryland researchers found that patients in the acupuncture group, at the end of the 26-week study, had experienced a 42 per cent reduction in WOMAC pain score as compared to a 19 per cent reduction in the control group.

Similarly, a 40 per cent improvement in function score was observed among acupuncture participants versus a 22 per cent improvement in the control group.

A global health assessment indicated a 15 per cent improvement for acupuncture patients compared to a 7per cent improvement in the control group.

The Spanish researchers found an 82 per cent improvement in WOMAC function score in the patients treated with true acupuncture (and diclofenac) as compared to a 40 per cent improvement in patients treated with sham acupuncture (and diclofenac).

The results were quite dramatic.

Pain scores decreased by 86 per cent. There was only a decrease of 47 per cent in the “sham” group.

Patients in the true acupuncture group also reported a greater improvement in psychological functioning and consumed 39 per cent less diclofenac tablets than the sham group (85 tablets, on average, versus 139 tablets) over the 12-week trial period.

Clearly, the acupuncture modality that is safe and easy to learn and employ is going to play an increasing role in future medicine which is going to be integrated.

* Datuk Dr Rajen M. is a pharmacist with a doctorate in holistic medicine. Email him at health@po.jaring.my

(c) 2008 New Straits Times. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.