Clinical Study On The Treatment Of Mild And Moderate Depression With Acupuncture And Moxibustion For Warming Yang And Expelling Pathogenic Factors

Objective1.To observe the clinical efficacy of Acupuncture and Moxibustion therapy for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors in the treatment of mild and moderate depression,and compare its curative effect with cognitive behavioral therapy.To explore whether Acupuncture and Moxibustion therapy for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors can provide a feasible scheme for clinical treatment of mild and moderate depression2.To observe the changes of adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH)and cortisol(CORT)in patient’s blood in both Acupuncture and Moxibustion therapy group for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Group,and to analyze the mechanism of the therapeutic effect of Acupuncture and Moxibustion therapy for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors on mild and moderate depression patients from the perspective of HPA axis.MethodSixty patients with mild to moderate depression were randomly divided into two groups:Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy Group and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Group,with 30 cases in each group.The acupuncture points of Acupuncture and Moxibustion therapy group were DU-23,DU-26,PC-7,LU-11 and SP-1 in thirteen ghost points,DU-14 and DU-4 in Moxibustion therapy for 15 times,and each time for 40 minutes,and cognitive behavioral therapy group was given 50 minutes of cognitive behavioral therapy,totally for 10 times.Subsequently,24 items of Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD-24),Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS),Self-Rating Anxiety Scale(SAS),Quick Self-Rating Depression Symptom Scale(QIDS)were used to evaluate the patients before treatment(0 weeks),during treatment(2 weeks)and after treatment(5 weeks)and to evaluate the clinical effect of the two groups on mild and moderate depression and the improvement of depression symptoms.Blood levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH)and cortisol(CORT)were measured by electrochemiluminescence(ECL)before and after treatment.Result1.Compared with the scores before,Scores of HAMD-24,SDS,SAS and QIDS in each group were significantly lower after treatment.In the Acupuncture and Moxibustion therapy Group for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors,0 were cured,10 markedly effective,15 effective and 5 ineffective.In the cognitive behavioral therapy group,there were 0 obvious,18 effective and 12 ineffective cases.The grade distribution of clinical efficacy suggests that the Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy Group for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors has better curative effect.(P<0.05)2.After 2 weeks of treatment,the HAMD-24 of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy Group for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors was better than before treatment(P<0.01),and there was no significant difference in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Group(P>0.05).It shows that the curative time of Acupuncture and Moxibustion group is faster than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy group.3.After 5 weeks of treatment,the scores of depressed emotion,difficulty in falling asleep and lack of deep sleep,gastrointestinal symptoms in Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy group for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors were significantly different before and after treatment(P<0.01).There was no significant difference in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy group(P>0.05),indicating that Acupuncture and Moxibustion therapy for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors is more effective than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in improving depressed emotion,sleep disorders and gastrointestinal symptoms.And the psychogenic and somatic anxiety score is significantly lower in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy group(P>0.05).There is no difference in weight socre and diurnal variation between two groups.4.The levels of ACTH and CORT in patient’s blood with Acupuncture and Moxibustion group for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors were significantly decreased after treatment(P<0.05),and the decrease was positively correlated with the improvement of symptoms.This result suggest that plasma ACTH and CORT levels can be used as objective indicators for the improvement of mild to moderate depression.Conclusion1.To mild to moderate depression,the curative effect of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy group for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors is better than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,and the curative time is faster than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.2.Both Acupuncture and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can significantly improve the scores of HAMD,SDS,SAS and QIDS in patients with mild and moderate depression;Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy group for warming Yang and expelling pathogenic factors has more prominent advantages in improving sleep,depressed emotion and gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with mild and moderate depression,and its curative effect is better than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.3.The effectiveness of improvement in mild and moderate depression by Warming Yang and eliminating pathogenic factors will be achieved by regulating the hormone level released by HPA axis.