A Comparative Study Of Acupuncture And Acupuncture Combined With Ear Acupoint - Pressing Method On Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

BACKGROUND:Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is also named Ya Pi Zheng,Epstein-Barr Virus(EBV), Chronic Leukemia and so on. It’s a kind of disease which a group of significantly debilitating medical conditions characterized by disabilities to alleviate fatigue after sleep (more than 6 months).People always feel tired and can’t find the reason.The fatigue cannot be effectively relived by rest or sleep, and will aggravate after either physical or mental activity. The quality of patients’life was significantly lower than that before the sickness. In addition, patients also showed some non-specific symptoms, such as drowsiness fatigue, memory loss, muscle pain, inability to concentrate, sleep disorders, continuous discomfort after tiredness. The symptoms look like Virus Flu, so the doctors always mistake CFS to Virus Flu.Currently, due to unclear pathogenesis of CFS by western medicine, it lacks of effective treatment clinically and no specific evaluation is available. Therefore, finding effective treatments in Chinese traditional medicine has become the necessary way of treating CFS. CFS was officially named by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1988,which was a group of complicated by unction of symptom complex specialized by severe fatigue. It always be concerned by the scientists from all the world.In more then 20 years,it lacks of effective treatment clinically and no specific evaluation is available.Besides, with the developing of the science and the social,people focus on health more and more. Not only want to cure the common diseases,but also want to solved this kind of invisible diseases,which is bad for the quality of life.This research aims to observe and summary effects of acupuncture therapy and acupuncture combine with pressing " Wang Bu Liu Xing" on the Ear Point therapy in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome and its development prospect, hoping that simpler, more convenient, comfortable and easily-accepted methods can be used to cure the disease and improve the symptoms, hence to improve patients’living qualities.OBJECTIVE:Research and compare the clinical effect of treating CFS by the method, which regulate the middle energizer’s functional activities of qi by acupuncture therapy and acupuncture combine with pressing " Wang Bu Liu Xing" on the Ear Point therapy, in order to provide a new idea for clinical acupuncture treatment of CFS.METHODS:Clinical observation was conducted in the acupuncture clinic of Beijing Guang An Men Hospital, the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.68 patients were randomly divided into 2 groups:acupuncture group and acupuncture combine with pressing " Wang Bu Liu Xing" on the Ear Point group. Each patient received treatment once a week and completed one therapeutic program in six weeks. After one course of curative effect evaluation was carried out. FS-14、FAI Fatigue rating scale and the effect evaluating criteria introduced in the relevant papers published in "The foreign medical booklet of traditional Chinese medicine" were adopted to evaluate the effect. Follow-up visit was conducted one month after treatment. The data was dealt with statistics process by SPSS20.0 statistical software.RESULTS:1.The data of FS-14 and FAI before and after treatment shows that both acupuncture group and acupuncture combine with pressing " Wang Bu Liu Xing" on the Ear Point group have a certain effect in the treatment of Chronic Fatigue. However, acupuncture combine with pressing " Wang Bu Liu Xing" on the Ear Point group is more effective than acupuncture group.(P<0.05)2.Curative effect evaluation of the results:The assessment of the feeling of patients: 88.57%of the patients in acupuncture combine with pressing " Wang Bu Liu Xing" on the Ear Point group (35 cases) got better or cured (4 of them were cured,27 of them got better and 4 of them had ineffective treatment).81.81% of patients in acupuncture group (33 cases) got better or cured (2 of them were cured,25 of them got better and 6 of them had ineffective treatment). (P>0.05) The difference was not statistically significant. However, the results of random inquiry to some patients after one month show that patients in acupuncture combine with pressing " Wang Bu Liu Xing" on the Ear Point group report high satisfaction.3.5 patients in two groups were cured after twice to four times treatmentThe patients in both groups achieved remission of symptoms in different degrees. No adverse reaction was found in both groups.CONCLUSIONS:For the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome, both acupuncture treatment and acupuncture combine with pressing " Wang Bu Liu Xing" on the Ear Point treatment have a good effect, while acupuncture combine with pressing " Wang Bu Liu Xing" on the Ear Point treatment is more effective than Flash Cupping. Acupuncture combine with pressing " Wang Bu Liu Xing" on the Ear Point treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome has the advantages of being safe, fast, convenient and rapid onset, which makes it easily accepted by patients.