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In this Issue

In this Issue Highlights doi:10.1136/acupmed-2014-010630 Adrian White, Editor An obituary in this issue recalls the chronic condition. But the results cessation in many different settings, contribution to acupuncture made were interesting, with weight loss which hinders the pooling of evi- by Bruce Pomeranz, one of the of 7% in the acupuncture group dence: one possible future direction 1970s’ pioneers who linked the compared with 4.3% in the for research is discussed in a linked newly discovered opioid peptides controls. editorial. (then called ‘endorphins’) to acu- The second RCT is on acupunc- Birkeflet and colleagues tested puncture for pain relief. This ture for depression, and Wang and the reliability of TCM diagnosis in marked the start of the modern sci- colleagues expand the evidence for women with infertility, the novelty entific approach to acupuncture, the effectiveness of acupuncture by here being that the practitioners and plausibility. By coincidence, it testing it on inpatients, and in com- were provided with standardised just so happens that only one of bination with standard antidepres- information—so that only the inter- our six original papers is on the sant drug treatment. The trial may pretation was tested. Sadly, TCM subject of pain relief. have somewhat limited application clinical diagnosis seems unreliable. It may be that we are witnessing in routine care because it used 30 Isay ‘sadly’, because anyone with a similar breakthrough, in the treatments with a special technique experience of TCM diagnosis linking of obesity and plasma which involved turning patients knows it should be able to provide nesfatin-1 that is described in the halfway through their treatment. more subtle shades of diagnosis study by Guo and colleagues. But as Macpherson points out in than purely Western methods. But Evidence is growing on the effect- his editorial, the addition of this of course, the use of diagnosis to iveness of acupuncture for obesity, new evidence to his own recent select points for some supposed both compared with sham acupunc- study in chronic depression in ‘energetic’ function is still highly ture, and compared with no acu- primary care might shift the implausible. puncture (diet alone) as in this balance in favour of acupuncture Now back to the main subject, study. There is increasing interest in when the Cochrane review is pain. One priority for this journal the hormone nesfatin-1 as a pos- updated. is to publish rigorous pilot studies. sible appetite suppressant. The Another new slant on acupunc- These are not designed to provide study showed that obesity was asso- ture is the setting described by evidence of effectiveness, of course, ciated with lower nesfatin-1 levels Stuyt et al, where drug users have a but to provide information on how (see figure 1), and that these levels kind of ‘global detox’ in a to design a robust and successful were raised by acupuncture. Like no-smoking environment. The main study. For acupuncture for many other trials in this area, the authors offered auricular acupunc- diabetic neuropathic pain, there is follow-up period is too short— ture, with interesting results in dif- already a considerable amount of 45 days in this case—for the evi- ferent groups of patient. evidence—but it is insufficiently dence to be clinically relevant to a Acupuncture is used for smoking rigorous to be conclusive. Jeon and colleagues have described their useful experience, and we wish them well with the main study. Chia describes a learning experi- ence: his patient improved only when the needle was placed deeper and stimulated electrically. Since she had not responded to the first treatment, her subsequent response seems unlikely to have been simply expectation but, more probably, neuromodulation—a term which indicates where Pomeranz’‘endorphins’ have led Figure 1 Correlation of plasma nesfatin-1 level with waist circumference in obese subjects. us, over the years. White A. Acupunct Med 2014;32:303. doi:10.1136/acupmed-2014-010630 303 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Acupuncture in Medicine SAGE

In this Issue

White, Adrian
Acupuncture in Medicine , Volume 32 (4): 1 – Aug 1, 2014
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Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© 2014 British Medical Acupuncutre Society
ISSN
0964-5284
eISSN
1759-9873
DOI
10.1136/acupmed-2014-010630
Publisher site
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Abstract

Highlights doi:10.1136/acupmed-2014-010630 Adrian White, Editor An obituary in this issue recalls the chronic condition. But the results cessation in many different settings, contribution to acupuncture made were interesting, with weight loss which hinders the pooling of evi- by Bruce Pomeranz, one of the of 7% in the acupuncture group dence: one possible future direction 1970s’ pioneers who linked the compared with 4.3% in the for research is discussed in a linked newly discovered opioid peptides controls. editorial. (then called ‘endorphins’) to acu- The second RCT is on acupunc- Birkeflet and colleagues tested puncture for pain relief. This ture for depression, and Wang and the reliability of TCM diagnosis in marked the start of the modern sci- colleagues expand the evidence for women with infertility, the novelty entific approach to acupuncture, the effectiveness of acupuncture by here being that the practitioners and plausibility. By coincidence, it testing it on inpatients, and in com- were provided with standardised just so happens that only one of bination with standard antidepres- information—so that only the inter- our six original papers is on the sant drug treatment. The trial may pretation was tested. Sadly, TCM subject of pain relief. have somewhat limited application clinical diagnosis seems unreliable. It may be that we are witnessing in routine care because it used 30 Isay ‘sadly’, because anyone with a similar breakthrough, in the treatments with a special technique experience of TCM diagnosis linking of obesity and plasma which involved turning patients knows it should be able to provide nesfatin-1 that is described in the halfway through their treatment. more subtle shades of diagnosis study by Guo and colleagues. But as Macpherson points out in than purely Western methods. But Evidence is growing on the effect- his editorial, the addition of this of course, the use of diagnosis to iveness of acupuncture for obesity, new evidence to his own recent select points for some supposed both compared with sham acupunc- study in chronic depression in ‘energetic’ function is still highly ture, and compared with no acu- primary care might shift the implausible. puncture (diet alone) as in this balance in favour of acupuncture Now back to the main subject, study. There is increasing interest in when the Cochrane review is pain. One priority for this journal the hormone nesfatin-1 as a pos- updated. is to publish rigorous pilot studies. sible appetite suppressant. The Another new slant on acupunc- These are not designed to provide study showed that obesity was asso- ture is the setting described by evidence of effectiveness, of course, ciated with lower nesfatin-1 levels Stuyt et al, where drug users have a but to provide information on how (see figure 1), and that these levels kind of ‘global detox’ in a to design a robust and successful were raised by acupuncture. Like no-smoking environment. The main study. For acupuncture for many other trials in this area, the authors offered auricular acupunc- diabetic neuropathic pain, there is follow-up period is too short— ture, with interesting results in dif- already a considerable amount of 45 days in this case—for the evi- ferent groups of patient. evidence—but it is insufficiently dence to be clinically relevant to a Acupuncture is used for smoking rigorous to be conclusive. Jeon and colleagues have described their useful experience, and we wish them well with the main study. Chia describes a learning experi- ence: his patient improved only when the needle was placed deeper and stimulated electrically. Since she had not responded to the first treatment, her subsequent response seems unlikely to have been simply expectation but, more probably, neuromodulation—a term which indicates where Pomeranz’‘endorphins’ have led Figure 1 Correlation of plasma nesfatin-1 level with waist circumference in obese subjects. us, over the years. White A. Acupunct Med 2014;32:303. doi:10.1136/acupmed-2014-010630 303

Journal

Acupuncture in Medicine – SAGE

Published: Aug 1, 2014

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