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Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
Published on: July 19, 2017
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Integrative medicine in anxiety disorders
Diogo Amorim1, José Amado2, Irma Brito2
1Instituto de Medicina Integrativa, Rua Afonso Duarte nº10 A, 3030-402, Coimbra, Portugal.
Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice
|April 30, 2018
Summary
Integrative medicine, combining acupuncture and massage, significantly reduced anxiety levels in patients. This treatment approach proved effective, particularly for women, and warrants further study.
Area of Science:
- Integrative Medicine
- Public Health
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Anxiety disorders affect 16.5% of the Portuguese population, representing a significant public health concern.
- Integrative Medicine Institute (IMI) data provides insights into patient demographics and treatment outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the effectiveness of integrative medicine (acupuncture and therapeutic massage) in reducing anxiety disorder symptoms.
- To describe the sociodemographic profile of patients seeking integrative medicine at IMI.
Main Methods:
- Documental analysis of clinical reports from 259 IMI patients treated between January and August 2017.
- Patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders received ten sessions of acupuncture (30 min) and therapeutic massage (30 min).
- Anxiety levels were measured using a 5-point self-perception scale before treatment, after five sessions, and after ten sessions.
Main Results:
- 30.5% of patients had an anxiety disorder diagnosis; 75.29% were female, and 34.4% were professionals in intellectual/scientific fields.
- Anxiety levels significantly reduced after ten integrative medicine sessions (98.39% reduction after five sessions).
- Patients on anxiolytic medication showed higher initial anxiety levels; women achieved lower anxiety levels than men by the tenth treatment.
Conclusions:
- Integrative medicine, specifically acupuncture combined with therapeutic massage, is an efficient complementary therapy for anxiety symptom relief.
- The findings support the use of these therapies as an adjunct to conventional treatments for anxiety disorders.
- This study provides a foundation for future randomized controlled trials investigating acupuncture's efficacy in treating anxiety disorders.
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