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Sinusitis research
Alternative
& Complimentary Therapies
xxxxx
Acupuncture
& Sinusitis
Acupuncture has traditionally been
successfully employed in China to treat most illnesses and research in the
past decade has shown that acupuncture can be very effective for
respiratory diseases including respiratory disorders. There are many
studies relating to the success of acupuncture treatment for sinusitis
which have been reported in the medical journals (1) . In 1979 the World
Health Organisation listed 40 diseases for which acupuncture was
considered to be beneficial and diseases of the respiratory tract such as
bronchitis and sinusitis were included in that list(2).
One Russian study(3) revealed that
acupuncture can even be of benefit in the severest of cases when surgical
intervention is indicated. Thirty six patients with polypous
rhinosinusitis the olfactory function, mucociliary transport, humoral and
local immunity were investigated over a period of two years, before and
after treatment that combined surgical intervention and electric
acupuncture.
The acupuncture points were selected
on an individual basis using diagnostic data, i.e. measurement of electric
conductivity of representative points. In most cases
the combined treatment led to improvement of the olfactory function, mucociliary transport and local
immunity. During two-year follow-up, over eighty five per cent of the
group had no recurrence - recurrent polyps were detected in only 4
patients and even in those cases the patients general health condition
remained good. The researchers concluded that electric acupuncture can be
recommended for the combined therapy of polypous rhinosinusitis.
Please remember that 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.
- (1). Aldridge d &
Pietroni P (1987) Clinical assessment of Acupuncture in Asthma Therapy: a
discussion paper. Journal of the Royal Soc of Med, 80, 222-4. Jobst
KA et al, (1986) Controlled trial of acupuncture for disabling
breathlessness. Lancet 2, 1416-9. Fung KP et
al (1986) Attenuation of exercise induced asthma by acupuncture Lancet 2,
1419-22.
(2) reported by Dr S Fulder MD in The Handbook of Complementary Medicine
(Coronet). [Electroacupuncture in combination
with surgical intervention in the
treatment of patients with polypous rhinosinusitis] Elektroakupunktura v sochetanii s khirurgicheskim
vmeshatel'stvom pri lechenii bol'nykh
polipoznym rinosinysitom. Mikhireva MM;
Portenko GM Vestn Otorinolaringol (USSR)
Mar-Apr 1990, (2) p40-2
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Homoeopathy
& Sinusitis.
The efficacy
and safety of a fixed-combination homeopathic medication (Sinusitis PMD)
consisting of Lobaria pulmonaria, Luffa operculata, and potassium
dichromate were investigated in an open-label practice-based study of 119
male and female patients, 12 to 57 years of age, with clinical signs of
acute sinusitis not previously treated. At the first visit, after a mean
of 4.1 days of treatment, secretolysis had increased significantly and
typical sinusitis symptoms, such as headache, pressure pain at nerve exit
points, and irritating cough, were reduced. Ninety-nine patients received
only the test medication. Twenty patients were able to discontinue
concomitant medication at the first visit. Only one patient needed an
antibiotic. The average treatment duration was 2 weeks. At the end of
treatment, 81.5% of patients described themselves as symptom free or
significantly improved. Adverse drug effects were not reported.
- Adv Ther 1999
Mar-Apr;16(2):103-11 Adler M
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This page was last updated on 05 December 2006 17:00:32
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