The Clinical Study On Acupuncture Of "Shu Gan Li Qi" In Treatment Of The Post-Stoke Depression

Objective: To explore and research an effective clinical treatment for PSD (post-stroke depression) by means of observing the clinical curative effect of the treatment of PSD with "shu gan li qi" acupuncture treatment.Methods: Sixty patients qualified for outpatient PSD were randomly divided into acupuncture group and control group. Thirsty patients made up of the acupuncture group, and the other thirty constituted the control group. Besides the conventional treatment, the acupuncture group received "shu gan li qi" acupuncture treatment, while the control group took the western medicine Prozac orally together with psychological guidance. Both groups took the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) test and the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom test before and after the treatment. The respective scale scores of both groups were then compared and used for correlation analysis. Moreover, the data collected was analyzed by software SPSS17.0.Results:1. The HAMD scores of both groups decreased dramatically after two and four weeks of treatment. There is the most significant difference of the scores between before treatment and after treatment (P <0.01). The HAMD scores of both groups decrease gradually with the extension of treatment, which suggests that the treatment has the obvious antidepressant treatment effects.2. The TCM Syndrome Scale score decreased gradually after two weeks' and four weeks' treatment. Compared before treatment with after treatment, there is the most significant difference of the scores (P<0.01), which reveals that the treatment has good effects on improving the TCM symptom of the PSD patients.3. After two weeks' treatment, the HADM scores and TCM symptom scores of the acupuncture group and control group had significant difference (0.010.05), which reveals that the acupuncture has the similar effects with the western medicine Prozac.Conclusion:1. "shu gan li qi" acupuncture treatment for PSD has the same effects with the western medicine Prozac, which can significantly improve the TCM symptom and depression of the PSD patients.2. The "shu gan li qi" acupuncture treatment has the advantages of little side effects, short onset time, safety, durability, and low cost. In addition, the treatment of depression and the treatment of stroke can be conducted simultaneously. Therefore, it is worth applying in the clinical.