About Me

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Javea, Alicante, Spain
I graduated from Acupuncture Colleges Sydney in 1982 and have been in private practice since.I have also been a lecturer at said college and internationally for a number of years as well as a board member of the Australian Acupuncture and Chinese medicine Association (AACMA)including 2 terms as national president. Moved to Spain in 2001 and set up practice in Javea and Moraira (Alicante) Modalities: Acupuncture, Chinese herbs, manipulative therapy and veterinary Acupuncture. Fellow AACMA. Honorary member Acupuncture Ethics and Standards Organization. Active member World Federation of Acupuncture Societies.

Monday 11 December 2017

Acupuncture outmatches drugs for IBS


Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are found effective for the alleviation of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). Two independent investigations confirm that acupuncture, as a standalone therapy, or acupuncture combined with the herbal formula Si Shen Wan (Four Miracle Pill) is safe and effective. Additionally, investigators confirm that acupuncture is more effective than loperamide, a synthetic opiate used to control diarrhea by inhibiting peristalsis (wavelike intestinal constriction and relaxation). 
Heilongjiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital researchers determined that acupuncture, as a standalone therapy, produces a 92.19% total effective rate for the treatment of IBS. A group receiving loperamide plus Si Shen Wan achieved a 72.88% total effective rate. The acupuncture group outperformed the drug plus herbs group by 19.39%. The total effective rate includes all patients that completely recovered or those that had significant relief of symptoms with less frequency of IBS and improved daily life activity functioning.
In an independent investigation, Chongqing Nanchuan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital researchers determined that acupuncture plus Si Shen Wan is more effective than loperamide plus Si Shen Wan. Acupuncture plus Si Shen Wan was significantly more effective for the reduction of abdominal pain and discomfort and also for controlling bouts of excessive bowel movement frequency than loperamide plus Si Shen Wan. Acupuncture plus herbs was also successful in improving stool consistency and appearance, bloating, and fecal incontinence whereas the drug plus herbs group did not show significant improvements in these areas.
An SF-6 health survey (a variant of the SF-36), reveals that acupuncture plus herbs produces additional advantages over drugs plus herbs. Acupuncture plus herbs significantly improves the following: vitality, bodily pain levels, role limitations due to physical health, physical functioning, role limitations due to emotional health, mental health, social functioning. The drugs plus herbs group showed more modest improvements that were limited to only two of these areas of health: bodily pain levels, role limitations due to physical health.
An IBS-QOL (disease specific questionnaire) demonstrates additional advantages to acupuncture over drugs. Acupuncture plus herbs produced significant improvements in the following areas: interference with activity, dysphoria, health concern, body image, food avoidance. Drugs plus herbs produced a minor benefit for food avoidance only.


6 comments:

Unknown said...

Great post!!Thanks for sharing it with us....really needed.The current approach of pharmaceutical drugs and surgery may be effective for life threatening and severe conditions, but may be very limited and only provide symptomatic relief when applied to everyday or chronic health issues.Acupuncture in Columbia MD

RK said...

You've out done yourself this time on Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Great job here. IBS Treatment in Homeopathy

Unknown said...

Very helpful post!! Followed you over here from Mugwump. Being from India I have never needed such knowledge, but you never know when things will change. Best Homeopathy Doctor in Hyderabad

shanseo5050 said...

There is a growing body of evidence that supports the use of diet therapy for clients diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (ibs) includes:. These include both psychologic treatments and dietary interventions. Visit my site for more details.

robertjackson said...
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