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Can heat and cold be parameterized? Clinical data of a preliminary study
Christoph A Doenitz1, Ana Anjos, Thomas Efferth
1Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Summary
Acupuncture objectively improved microcirculation in patients with low capillary perfusion, but not in those with high perfusion. This suggests microcirculation parameters can assess acupuncture effects and inform Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis.
Area of Science:
- Integrative Medicine
- Medical Acupuncture
- Microcirculation Research
Background:
- Assessing acupuncture's objective effects is challenging.
- Microcirculation parameters may offer objective measures.
- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis lacks objective parameters.
Purpose of the Study:
- Objectively assess acupuncture effects using microcirculation parameters.
- Evaluate pre-acupuncture capillary perfusion's significance.
- Explore microcirculation's role in TCM diagnosis parameterization.
Main Methods:
- Prospective, uncontrolled, preliminary clinical trial.
- 32 elderly patients post-femur fracture surgery.
- Acupuncture on stomach meridian (ST34) with "leopard spot technique".
- White light spectroscopy and laser Doppler for microcirculation measurements (velocity, blood flow, hemoglobin, oxygen saturation) pre- and post-acupuncture.
Main Results:
- Two subgroups identified: low- and high-perfusion.
- Acupuncture significantly increased capillary flow velocity and blood flow in the low-perfusion group only.
- No significant perfusion changes observed in the high-perfusion group.
- Overall analysis showed no significant alteration, possibly due to group inhomogeneity.
Conclusions:
- Microcirculation parameters can objectively measure acupuncture effects.
- Pre-acupuncture vegetative status (microcirculation) is crucial for trial homogeneity.
- Acupuncture effectively treated "cold pattern" (low perfusion) but not "heat pattern" (high perfusion).
- Future studies should correlate TCM vegetative parameters with TCM diagnosis.
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