Acupuncture alone won’t ease depression for most

	Tweet

Acupuncture on its own does not appear to be an adequate treatment for depression, research shows.

But the ancient Chinese medical technique is safe, and may be helpful to some patients, Dr. John J. B. Allen of the University of Arizona in Tucson, the study’s lead author, told Reuters Health.

In two previous studies, one in young women and one in pregnant women, Allen and his team found that acupuncture specifically targeted to symptoms of depression was effective. 

But in the current study, in 151 men and women with major depression, people who underwent acupuncture at points that were not specific to depression treatment actually fared better than those treated at depression-specific points.

“Getting acupuncture is certainly better than waiting, but our studies didn’t provide any evidence that the specific points that were needled were important,” Allen said in an interview.

Allen and his colleagues randomized study participants to depression-specific acupuncture, non-specific acupuncture, or a waiting period for eight weeks, after which all study participants underwent the depression-specific treatment.

After the initial phase of treatment, 22 percent of the patients in the depression-specific group showed a response, compared to 39 percent who underwent the nonspecific treatment and 17 percent of the patients given no treatment. By the end of the study, about half of the patients had responded to the treatment.

In a real-world setting, Allen noted, acupuncture practitioners tailor their treatment to the patient, with the approach changing with every session based on how the patient responds. In the current study, while the initial treatment was tailored to the patients, he added, the research protocol did not allow for adjustments during the course of treatment. This may have blunted the effectiveness of the therapy, Allen suggests.

“The findings are not strong enough to recommend acupuncture as a first-line intervention,” he said. “But the present findings in combination with the other two studies suggest that acupuncture can be helpful for some people.”

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, November 2006.

RELATED STORIES:
Depression risk increased among cancer patients   Brain analysis can help predict psychosis: study   Heroin by prescription seen to help addicts quit   Depression after stroke: a neglected problem   Children distressed by family fighting have higher stress hormones   Effectiveness of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Panic Disorder   Understanding Your Teenager’s Emotional Health   Can Primary Care Doctors Treat Depression?   Heroin-assisted treatment for opioid dependence: study   First-Year Treatment Success Lowers 15-Year Death Risk for Alcoholics   Parents’ mental health suffers after child’s death   Vets & Depression: Return from War to Fight New Battle   Burnout and mental distress strongly related to errors by US surgeons   Study provides animal model of depression   Major depression: Screening and treatment

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]