Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2025
Controlling Parkinson's Disease With Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation
Published on: July 16, 2014
Effectiveness and Safety of Meridian Activation Remedy System for Alleviating Motor Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease:
InWoo Choi1, Sangsoo Park2, Seung Hyun Lee3
1Department of Cardiology and Neurology of Korean Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Daejeon University, Daejeon, Korea.
Background:
Parkinson's disease (PD) lacks disease-modifying drugs or sustainable interventions, creating an unmet treatment need. Investigating complementary and alternative medicines aims to improve PD patients' quality of life by alleviating symptoms and delaying the course of the disease.
Objectives:
In this single-center, prospective, observational, single-arm study, we aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture combined with exercise therapy and the Meridian Activation Remedy System (MARS).
Methods:
From March to October 2021, 13 PD patients with Hoehn and Yahr stages 1 to 3 were recruited. For 8 weeks, MARS intervention was carried out twice a week. T-statistics were used to evaluate functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and GAITRite outcomes. All of the remaining outcome variables were evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
Results:
The MARS intervention significantly reduced PD patients' Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDSUPDRS) Part III score (from 20.0 ± 11.8 to 8.8 ± 5.5, p = 0.003), 10-meter walk test speed (from 9.5 ± 1.8 to 8.7 ± 1.3 seconds, p = 0.040), and timed up and go time (from 9.8 ± 1.8 to 8.9 ± 1.4 seconds, p = 0.040). Moreover, the MDS-UPDRS Part II, fNIRS hemodynamics, 360-degree turn test, fall efficacy scale, and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire 39 scores improved but not significantly. All participants completed the 8-week intervention without any adverse reactions.
Conclusion:
An 8-week MARS intervention improved motor symptoms in PD patients. In particular, improvements in UPDRS Part III scores exhibited large clinically important differences. The findings are encouraging, and a randomized controlled trial will be conducted to determine the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of MARS intervention.
