An uncontrolled pilot study of HT7 for 'stress'

Bilateral acupuncture needling at HT7 was an effective method for reducing the rating of 'psychological stress' in 16 out of of a group of 17 volunteers (94%), recruited from staff in a hospice. Ratings were made using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), which was felt to be the most useful scale of those considered, despite not being validated in this population. Four brief acupuncture sessions were performed at weekly intervals. The greatest fall in the EPDS scores was observed within the first two treatments. At the end of the study, there was an average reduction of 44% in the EPDS scores. Further research is needed, including a suitable control group, to determine whether the effect observed in this study was a specific effect of needling at HT7.