Ankylosing
Spondylitis Research
-Alternative
& Complementary Therapies
Acupuncture
& Ankylosing Spondylitis
Acupuncture
has traditionally been successfully employed in China to treat most
illnesses. There is little doubt that acupuncture is an excellent therapy
for people suffering with this condition as it works through the nervous
system and energy channels in the body. Treatment has been shown to cause
the brain to release endorphines and encephalins (natural pain killers),
boost the immune system and calm the nervous system.
There are several studies suggesting
that acupuncture can be very helpful in the treatment of arthritis and
more specifically Ankylosing Spondylitis. For instance, a recent study in
Russia (1) found that 73% of patients suffering from Ankylosing
Spondylitis benefited
from acupuncture treatment. When acupuncture was
combined with UV light treatment the response rate increased to 93%.
In another study, 54 Rheumatoid
Arthritis sufferers were given acupuncture (warm needling) with Zhuifengsu
(Chinese herb)
A study of auriculo-electropuncture
(AEP) - treatment of points on the ear - by a double blind method was
conducted in Russia with 16 arthritis
patients. Not only did they all feel
better as a result of the treatment but they all showed
"statistically significant" improvement in blood samples. (3)
Traditional acupuncturists treat the
whole person rather than a disease and therefore attempt to get to the
root cause of the problem rather than treating the symptoms and, like
other holistic practitioners, will consider all lifestyle and
environmental factors before commencing treatment. Controlled medical
tudies indicate that acupuncture is an appropriate therapy to adopt in
holistic treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis.
(1) [The combined use
of acupuncture and UV irradiation in treating the neurological
manifestations of lumbar osteochondrosis] Sochetannoe
primenenie akupunktury i oblucheniia UF-luchami v lechenii nevrologicheskikh
proiavlenii poiasnichnogo osteokhondroza. Tsarev IuK; Troshina ED Vopr Kurortol Fizioter Lech
Fiz Kult (USSR) May-Jun 1991, (3) p25-9,
(2) Effect of acupuncture and point-injection treatment on immunologic
function in rheumatoid arthritis. Liu X; Sun L; Xiao J; Yin S; Liu C; Li
Q; Li H; Jin B General Hospital of PLA, Beijing. J Tradit Chin Med (CHINA)
Sep 1993, 13 (3) p174-8
(3) [Auriculo-electropuncture in rheumatoid arthritis (a double-blind
study)] Aurikuloelektropunktura pri
revmatoidnom artrite (dvoinoe slepoe ispytanie). Ruchkin
IN; Burdeinyi AP Ter Arkh 1987, 59 (12) p26-30
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Hypnotherapy
and Psychotherapy
& Ankylosing Spondylitis
All physical diseases including cancer, heart disease and even skin
complaints have been helped with Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy. The power
of suggestion and mental imagery is a tool all too often overlooked but
which can be of immense help to Ankylosing Spondylitis sufferers. Remember
also that Ankylosing Spondylitis is a stress related disease and
Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy are both excellent aids to help control
emotional stress.
There has been at least one
study involving hypnotherapy and arthritis. In one instance (1), reported
levels of pain, anxiety, and depression, and plasma levels of
beta-endorphin,
epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin were measured
in 19 arthritic pain patients before and after hypnosis. Correlations were
found between levels of pain, anxiety, and depression and following hypnotherapy,
there were clinically and statistically significant decreases in pain, anxiety,
and depression and increases in beta-endorphin-like immunoreactive
material. This reveals that hypnotherapy may well play an important role
in conquering the painful symptoms associated with Ankylosing Spondylitis.
One dramatic case was
reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (2) of a 10
year old girl diagnosed as having juvenile rheumatoid arthritis which had
responded minimally to large doses of aspirin and physical therapy over a
period of 7 weeks. The doctors decided to try hypnotherapy and 4 hours
after her second session, the girl was able to ride her bicycle and was
free from any pain. Two further reinforcing sessions were given and the
girl remained well for the three years to the time of the report.
(1) Biochemical correlates
of hypnoanalgesia in arthritic pain patients. Domangue BB; Margolis CG;
Lieberman D; Kaji H - J Clin Psychiatry Jun 1985, 46 (6) p235-8,
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This page was last updated on 04 December 2006 21:10:19
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