The Clinical Study Of Combined Therapy Of Body And Auricular Acupuncture In The Treatment Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Objective:To investigate the therapeutic effect of a combined ordinary and auricular acupuncture therapy in the treatment of CFS.The study is a controlled experiment that consists of a treatment(acupuncture) and control (herbal concoction) groups.Their clinical effect was observed and compared scientifically.Method:Patients from MingYi Chinese Medical Clinic were chosen to participate in the study,A total of 60 qualified CFS patients were randomly divided into treatment and control groups.The patients in the treatment group were treated with acupuncture(body and auricular);the chosen acupoints were baihui,neiguan,zusanli,and sanyinjiao.After routine disinfecting procedures,the needles were inserted to the selected acupoints and acupuncture sensation was achieved.The needles were retained for 30 minutes. They were treated 5 times per week for a total of 2 courses;10 times equal one course of treatment,In addition of the body acupuncture,the following auricular acupoints were used(xin,pi,shenmen,neifenmi,and jiaogan.Seeds of the herb wangbuliuxing were used to press onto the auricular points.This part of treatment was done twice a week for a total of 2 courses;4 times equal one course of treatment.Point pressing was done on alternating ears at each treatment.Patients were told to press onto the seed 3-5 times per day,each time lasting about 5 minutes.Patients in the control group were treated with guipitang concoction. Additional herbs were added to the concoction according to the different types of Chinese medical syndromes.The win deficient with heat syndrome,zhimu was added;the phlegm retention with heat syndrome,banxia was added. Patients were prescribed oral intake once daily for 4 weeks.The effectiveness was assessed using the Fatigue Scale(FS)-14,Fatigue Assessment Instrument(FAI),and World Health Organization Quality of Life -BREF(WHOQOL-BREF).The observed data were collected and analyzed using the SPSS 13.0 software for Windows.Results:Both treatment and control groups resulted in significant improvements after treatment(p<0.05).However,the change in total effective rate between the groups was not significantly different(p>0.05). The scores achieved after treatment for the symptoms,FS-14,FAI and WHOQOL-BREF significantly improved after treatment in both groups(p<0.05). The change in the score rating before and after treatment between the groups was also significant,indicating that treating CFS with combined body and auricular acupuncture was more effective than herbal concoction intake.Conclusions:There is no significant difference in the prevalence of CFS between the two sexes:however,adolescence and people with high education are more prevalent to the condition.In the study,it was found that both types of therapy,acupuncture and herbal concoction,were effective in the treatment of CFS.All indices,scores of FS-14 and FAI were decreased,and that of WHOQOL-BREF was increased.The change in the treatment group was more significant than the control group,which indicated that the effectiveness in treating CFS with acupuncture was better than intake of herbal concoction. In particular,the combined body and auricular acupuncture therapy significantly relieved the patients' headache and insomnia as compared with the herbal intake.