Preliminary Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of Electroacupuncture In The Treatment Of Male Androgenetic Alopecia

Backgroud:Androgenetic alopecia belongs to the field of refractory hair disease,and it is a common and frequently-occurring disease that seriously affects the appearance of the face.Baldness not only brings a great psychological burden on the patient but also indirectly relates to the patient's quality of life.Although current treatments are gradually increasing,there are still no recognized effective treatments and drugs.Acupuncture plays a vital part in the treatment of chronic disease in China.In recent years,some studies have shown that acupuncture has effectiveness on improving the symptoms of androgenetic alopecia with fewer associated adverse events occurring.Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture for androgenetic alopecia.Methods:60 patients with androgenetic alopecia were recruited and randomized to receive electro-acupuncture(EA)or sham electro-acupuncture at a 1:1 ratio.Patients in both groups received treatment 3 times per week for 8 weeks.The EA group treated with electro-acupuncture points,Baihui(DU20)and Shangxing(DU23).The following acupoints will be used,such as Touwei(ST 8),Sishencong(EX-HN1),Sanyinjiao(SP6),and Taixi(K13),etc.The control group needed shallow pricks and didn't need electro-acupuncture as well as the Deqi sensation.Observation indicators consisted of the change value in target area hair counts,the change value in serum testosterone of male hormones,psychological burden questionnaire,full head photography outcome score,Likert overall recovery self-assessment,acupuncture blindness assessment,acupuncture and moxibustion expectation evaluation and statistically analyze patient compliance and safety.The study period included a 1-week baseline period,an 8-week treatment period,and a 12-week follow-up period.Results:60 participants were included in this study and all participants finally completed this study.The baseline between two groups had no diference(P>0.05).Main Outcome Measures:the change value in target area hair counts after 8-week treatment period.Within the group comparison,after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment,the change value of the hair count in the target area was improved.The change from baseline in target area hair counts at week8 was 32.2 ±29.1/cm2 in the EA group and 14.1 ±24.3/cm2 in the sham electro-acupuncture group.There is statistical significance within the groups.At the 8th week between groups,the difference between the groups was 17.9 ± 24.5/cm2,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).At the 12th and 20th week of follow-up period of EA group,the change in hair counts from baseline was 16.5 ± 27.9/cm2and 14.± 27.8/cm2respectively which was statistically significant(P<0.05).However,in sham electro-acupuncture group the hair count at the 12th and 20th week were 4.5 ± 23.1/cm2?3.8 ± 25.3/cm2respectively which was not statistically significant(P>0.05).In the follow-up period,there was a statistically significant change in hair counts from the baseline compared with two groups which were 11.8 ±25.6/cm2,10.2±23.3/cm2 respectively(P<0.05).Secondary Outcomes:(1)The change value in serum testosterone of male hormones.Testosterone did not change significantly after 8 weeks of treatment in the two groups(P>0.05);there was no significant difference between the two groups(P>0.05).(2)Alopecia Psychological Burden Survey—A survey of psychological burden of hair loss during the treatment period and follow-up period showed no significant difference between the two groups(P>0.05).(3)Full-head photogrammetry evaluation—Assessment of full-head photography results during the treatment period and follow-up period were not statistically significant between the electro-acupuncture group and the group(P>0.05).(4)Likert overall recovery self-assessment—Patients in the EA group and the sham acupuncture group had the same overall self-evaluation results,and there was no statistical difference between the groups.(5)Safety—There were no serious adverse reactions between the EA group and the sham acupuncture group in the adverse events.Conclusion:Electro-acupuncture can effectively promote the regeneration of androgenetic alopecia.There was no obvious effect on the male hormone serum and the psychological burden.There was no obvious adverse reaction during the treatment.Electro-acupuncture has certain effect on improving androgenetic alopecia in males and the safety of electro-acupuncture is good,but it still needs to be further confirmed by larger samples and high quality research.