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Updated: Nov 1, 2025
Author Spotlight: Utilizing Traditional Chinese Acupuncture of the Ear to Improve Sleep Disorders
Published on: August 18, 2023
Effect of acupuncture on sleep quality and neurological function in stroke patients with sleep apnea syndrome
Peng Zhang1, Lingsu Cheng1, Qian Tian1
1Department of Acupuncture, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion Tianjin, China.
Objective:
To investigate the effect of acupuncture on sleep quality and neurological function in stroke patients with sleep apnea syndrome (SAS).
Methods:
In this prospective study, a total of 88 stroke patients with SAS were randomized into two groups: observation group (44 cases; patients received the western medicine treatment combined with acupuncture) and control group (44 cases; patients were given western medicine treatment only). All patients in both groups were treated for three weeks. The clinical efficacy, sleep quality, apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), cognitive function, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and S100 calcium binding protein β (S100β) levels before and after treatment were compared between patients in the two groups.
Results:
Compared with those before treatment, the sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency and minimal oxygen saturation (SaO2min) increased, while the longest apnea time and AHI decreased in both groups after treatment. More significant changes were found in the observation group (all P<0.05). After treatment, the overall effective rate in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05); serum levels of NSE and S100β in both groups were lower than those before treatment, and the levels of the observation group were lower than those of the control group (all P<0.05); Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores in both groups were higher than those before treatment, and scores of the observation group were higher than those of the control group (all P<0.05).
Conclusion:
Western medicine treatment combined with acupuncture can significantly relieve the clinical symptoms of stroke patients with SAS and improve sleep quality and neurological function. Therefore, it is worthy of clinical application.
