The Veterans Military administration already studies the use of various alternative treatment like acupuncture to treat soldiers. Now the Army surgeon General has released a report making recommendations about the care of Army personnel with regards to pain.

The Army Pain Management Task Force report suggests the use of many treatments like acupuncture. Currently, many of the VA hospitals and care centres do not have acupuncturists on staff but will refer personnel who have a need to local therapists.

Chronic weakness of the heart muscles is one of the main causes of disease and death in Europe and the problem reduces a person’s ability to be active. Signs of heart disease include shortness and breath and chronic fatigue after physical exercise.

Scientists have discovered that while acupuncture doesn’t increase the pump function of the heart, it can influence muscle strength and help increase the distance a heart patient can walk.

The study, which was conducted by the Department of Internal Medicine III (Cardiology, Angiology, and Pneumology of Heidelberg University Hospital, involved patients with heart failure who were treated with conventional medicine and in a stable condition.

The patients were given ten sessions of acupuncture whereby needles were inserted into points known to Traditional Chinese Medicine as being able to boost general strength and influence the nervous system. A control placebo group were treated with simulation needles that do not break the skin’s surface.

Results from the study found that patients given acupuncture could walk greater distances in an allotted time than those in the placebo group. They also recovered quicker and felt less exhaustion.

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The team from the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York has identified the molecule adenosine as a contributing factor to some of the effects of acupuncture in the body.

Adenosine is a natural compound which regulates sleep and has anti-inflammatory properties. The compound also acts as a natural painkiller which inhibits nerve signals after an injury and eases pain.

This latest study found that the chemical is active in the deeper tissues of the skin where acupuncture works. The findings complement other studies which have shown that acupuncture helps the central nervous system to send signals to the brain to release natural pain-killing endorphins.

“Acupuncture has been a mainstay of medical treatment in certain parts of the world for 4,000 years, but because it has not been understood completely, many people have remained sceptical,” said Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the University’s Centre for Translational Neuromedicine

“In this work, we provide information about one physical mechanism through which acupuncture reduces pain in the body,” she added.

Taking painkilling medications for more than 10 or 15 days a month can lead to more headaches and the drugs could be part of the problem rather than the cure.

According to the research, all types of headache drugs are capable of making headaches worse if overused including migraine drugs known as triptans.

People who suffer with headaches caused by overuse of medications take an average of 114 doses per month while migraine sufferers suffer more headaches when taking just 18 doses of triptan each month. Taking a low dose each day is more likely to trigger a headache rather than taking a high dose once a week leading to researchers to conclude that frequency rather than quantity is the cause.

However, it may take several years of excessive use of medication before overuse headaches develop. This is due to regular doses of painkillers changing electrical pathways in the brain that carry pain signals leading to an oversensitivity to headaches.

If using codeine regularly, there is also a risk of withdrawal symptoms due to its addictiveness which in turn may play a part in triggering a headache while taking triptan drugs for a prolonged period could weaken the brain’s natural ability to cope with pain.

If you find the need to take painkillers on a regular basis you should speak to your GP about combining your medication with other treatment approaches. Natural treatments such as acupuncture, osteopathy and physiotherapy can have therapeutic benefits on headaches.

Read the articles below to learn more:

Can Osteopathy help treat headaches?
Treating headaches with Physiotherapy

A hospital in war-torn Baghdad has been substituting the commonly used oxytocin drug with acupuncture to treat mothers during caesarean deliveries

The study of 200 cases, which was published in British medical journal ‘Acupuncture in Medicine’, concluded that acupuncture could be a useful addition to traditional medicine methods even if hospitals are not struggling to find drugs due to the recent conflicts.

During childbirth, a naturally occurring hormone called oxytocin is often given to mothers after a caesarean to help reduce the uterus and limit the risk of bleeding. Between 2004 and 2006, Doctors at the Red Crescent Hospital of Gynaecology in Baghdad turned to acupuncture when there were fears supplies of oxytocin would run out.

Womb contraction decreased enough in 45% of the women for oxytocin not to be needed at all, and enough in 30% of the women for them to need two units of the drug.

Normally, doctors will administer between 10 and 20 units of oxytocin, so the Baghdad women were managing on around 18% of the normal dose.

Only four women who received acupuncture needed more than four units of oxytocin.

Lead author of the study Lazgeen Zcherky said the majority of patients who received acupuncture did not need oxytocin at all and it was a useful substitute which enable hospitals to retain drug stores.

The acupuncture treatment administered by doctors in Baghdad involved six needles inserted into the toes and ankles as soon as possible after delivery followed by manual stimulation for 5-10 minutes.

The acupuncture points used relate to problems of the womb such as bleeding, prolapse, uterine contractions, placenta retention and labour difficulties.

Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at Britain’s Peninsula Medical School said previous clinical trials did not support the use of acupuncture in childbirth.

A study found that one in twenty people experienced reduced anxiety while sitting in the dentist chair when acupuncture was performed by the dentist themselves.

Using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) questionnaire, researchers found anxiety scores reduced from the average of 26.5 to 11.5. Of the twenty participants (16 men and 4 women), all were able to continue with their dental treatment after acupuncture was performed.

Two specific acupuncture points were targeted during the study (GV20 and EX6). The top of the head was found to require less effort and was more effective for reducing anxiety within five minutes of treatment.

The findings could help people who have previously used medications, hypnosis or behavioural therapy to reduce anxiety about visiting the dentist. While effective, these treatments can be time consuming as opposed to acupuncture which can produce immediate results.

Authors of the study concluded that “acupuncture may offer a simple and inexpensive method of treatment for anxiety from dental treatment.”

Other services that will be available through the scheme include personal assistants, transport and other complementary therapies.

The details of the scheme, which have recently been released by the DoH, state that anyone ‘capable of managing a direct payment’ will receive one as part of personal health budget pilots running in 20 Primary Care Trusts.

The pilots involve thousands of GPs who allocate the money by drawing up care plans with patients. The plans are then reviewed regularly.

The document from the Department of Health states that money could be spent on services as long as they are legal and appropriate for the Government to fund.

However, the plans for personal budgets have been criticised by the General Practitioners Committee who see the proposals as distracting for already over-stretched GPs.

‘This is adding unnecessary additional bureaucracy at a time when the NHS is going to have to make savage cuts. There seems to be nothing that cannot be achieved through effective practice-based commissioning,’ said Dr Chaand Nagpaul, a GP in Edgware, Middlesex and GPC negotiator.

‘I think there seems to be some confusion in Government policy. On the one hand they have been quite clear that the NHS should use resources based on evidence-based guidance developed by NICE, but there seems to be some confusion about the degree of flexibility patients will have. For example most complementary therapies are not supported by NICE guidance.’

NHS Alliance chairperson and GP Dr Michael Dixon is a supporter of complementary medicine integration into the NHS but believes the scheme will only work if patients can keep within their budget.

‘Patients with budgets will be allowed to go outside NICE guidelines, but need to pay for reasonable things provided they are within budget,’ he said.

‘One major issue will be to see if they are good at keeping to budget and possibly save money in a cold financial climate. If they are not they will wither on the vine.’

Payments could be used for services such as physiotherapy for chronic pain, acupuncture, homeopathy, personal care assistants, transportation to treatment sessions, respite care or air conditioners for people with respiratory conditions.

A structured exercise program, course of manual therapy/manipulation or acupuncture sessions will be offered after a study by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence found these treatments to be the best available for lower back pain.

The three types of treatment will become available to patients who have pain that has lasted six weeks or more but the report rules out a variety of treatments currently provided by the NHS.

Therapies such as ultrasound, injections and lumbar supports will not be available as the NHS looks to abandon treatments that are not proven to work. This will help cut costs and provide a consistent quality of service for patients suffering lower back pain.

Physiotherapy is well placed to deliver the manual therapy, manipulation and exercise based treatments already and the report further validates existing evidence that acupuncture provides effective back pain relief.

Learn more about physiotherapy and find a local practitioner here
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You can read the full back pain report here

Over three quarters of the population suffer with some form of back pain during the life costing the health service around £500 million per year.

This latest study into Acupuncture involved hundreds of back pain sufferers receiving various therapies. After being split into four groups, one group received individual Acupuncture therapy, one group had standard treatment, the third received simulated acupuncture (using toothpicks) and the final group were treated with usual back pain care methods.

Two months after treatment, 60% of those participants receiving some form of acupuncture found their symptoms improved whereas 39% receiving conventional care found their condition improved.

One year later, 59-69% of participants who were treated with acupuncture reported further improvement against just 50% from the group who were treated conventionally.

Researchers said that different varieties of acupuncture were beneficial to chronic back pain and the effects were persistent compared with conventional treatment.

Acupuncture is seen as safe, effective and reasonable option where conventional treatments fail work, the researchers went on to say. The therapy also reduces long-term exposure to medication and its potential for negative or adverse side-effects.

Acupuncture is believed to stimulate processes that reduce pain and improve physiological function.

A study presented to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology showed that patients with persistent atopic dermatitis (eczema) treated with TCM reported improvement to their condition and a decreased reliance on steroidal creams, antibiotics and antihistamines.

14 patients were treated using Chinese herbal teas, bath additives, creams and acupuncture and the results measured using indexes to gauge eczema severity and impairment to life quality.

13 out of the 14 treated had decreased severity of between 60-90% after 3 months and over 50% found improvement to their quality of life after 2 months. No abnormalities to liver or kidney function were found.

Researchers recommended that people suffering with eczema should first seek advice from their GP before beginning any complementary and alternative medicine treatments.

Learn more about Traditional Chinese Medicine here

Find out more about eczema here