Efficacy of acupuncture treatment in autonomic ataxia

Recently Coefficient Variation of R-R interval derived from patient's ECG is advocated to be an objective and quantitative method of analyzing autonomic nerve function. In the present study, we used this method to make an evaluation of the acupuncture treatment on the patients suffering from autonomic ataxia. Twenty-one patients were admitted to this therapy according to the results of CMI (Cornell Medical Index) test. (4 males, 17 females, mean age was 49.9 y.o.) ECG machine was used to measure the R-R interval every 100 heart beats before and after the treatment, and through this survey, the mean R-R interval (mR-R) and Coefficient Variation (C.V. SD/mR-R x 100%) were obtained. Subjective complaints were obtained at the same time, too. The mR-R became extended in 14 out of 21 patients after treatment and mean value of mR-Rs after treatment was significantly increased than prior to treatment. (871.6 msec-before 918.3 msec-after p less than 0.05) As for C.V. the mean value was not markedly changed but the variance was decreased significantly (1.67-before 0.47-after p less than 0.025), and 60% of subjective complaints were improved after treatment. These results suggest that acupuncture therapy is effective on the patients who have been diagnosed as having autonomic ataxia by regulating autonomic nerve function.