Comparative Clinical Research Study For Acupuncture And Dietary Treatment On Weight Control

Purpose:obesity is a misbalance nutritional disease caused by special biochemistry factors which leads to serious disorders of energy. Calorie absorbed in the body is much more than it is consumed then stored in the body as fat. As a result, obesity appears. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) believes that the function of the spleen which governs transportation and transformation means that the spleen can digest food, absorb nutrients and water then transport them to qi, blood and body fluids. The spleen holds qi under the interaction of exogenous pathogenic factors and endogenous pathogenic factors. The imbalance of qi, blood and yin and yang results in the stasis of phlegm and dampness. This all appears as obesity. The basic pathogenesis is the disorders of the stomach and spleen leading to disturbance of the body fluid and stagnation of phlegm. There are several ways to lose weight such as appetite inhibitors, metabolic stimulants or absorption blockers. In recent years, the use of traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of obesity has achieved significant results with non-toxic side effects. This study aims to use Chinese acupuncture to treat obesity and show it is more effective than diet only.Methods:80patients were divided into2groups where the first group which consists of40patients was treated by acupuncture and the2nd group (40patients) was treated by diet only. The patients suffered from deficiency of spleen-stomach and dampness. The treatment was3times a week and few points of the abdomen were selected for electro-acupuncture. Two couples of wires with corresponding points were connected respectively. The frequency at100Hz and frequency of condensation-rarefaction wave group was2to5/50to100Hz by cycling. The needles are kept in the body for30minutes. Weight, waist circumferences and body mass index is measured in the first session then every2weeks until the treatment time is finished which are one month and a half. Blood pressure and blood tests are taken for level of triglycerides and cholesterol at the beginning and the end of the treatment time. Follow up was undertaken after6months for15patients who agreed. The weight, BMI, waist circumference was measured and lab test for triglyceride, cholesterol and blood pressure was taken. The same follow up was done for the same patients after10days then15days.Results: After two courses of treatment, which included the group treated with acupuncture and group treated with diet only, body weight, BMI and body circumference were analyzed statistically. The results showed that there is a significant difference of the means of the2groups which show after6weeks with regard to the BMI and waist only at5%significance level and the3variables at10%significance level. The results for the follow ups showed that12patients out of the15showed a significant change in the body weight, BMI, waist circumference (P<0.001). Triglyceride and cholesterol level in the blood returned to normal.Conclusion:The results show that treatment with acupuncture showed good clinical efficacy, improved indicators of body weight and body circumference compared to treatment with diet only. The significant affect of acupuncture only treatment appeared as late as6weeks. As a result, the efficacy of acupuncture only treatment was superior to that of diet only treatment. It can affect levels of triglyceride, cholesterol in the blood and blood pressure returning it to normal.