Acupuncture may help relieve the symptoms of fibromyalgia,
especially the fatigue and anxiety that often comes with
the condition, a new study suggests.
Fibromyalgia is a syndrome marked by chronic widespread
aches and pains, fatigue and sleep problems, among other
symptoms; the cause is unknown, and there are no medications
specifically approved for the condition. Instead, treatment
usually involves a combination of approaches, such as painkillers,
antidepressants and exercise therapy.
Only two well-designed clinical trials have tested acupuncture's
effects on fibromyalgia, and these studies yielded conflicting
results.
The new study was conducted by researchers at the Mayo
Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota and in
Jackson, Florida.
Fifty fibromyalgia patients were randomly assigned to acupuncture
or to a "placebo" version of the therapy, where a dull surgical
instrument was pressed against the skin rather than acupuncture
needles.
The subjects were positioned so they could not see which
treatment they received. All but one subject was female.
The patients underwent six treatment sessions over two
to three weeks. None of the patients had been treated with
acupuncture before.
Overall, the fibromyalgia patients who underwent the real
treatment showed a significantly greater improvement in
their symptoms than placebo recipients did -- particularly
when it came to fatigue and anxiety, Dr. David P. Martin
and his colleagues report in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Acupuncture is among the most popular and best-studied
forms of alternative medicine; research suggests it can
help ease pain stemming from a range of conditions, including
lower back problems, migraine and arthritis.
As far as the therapy's effects on fibromyalgia, "the trend
in the evidence is tipping toward a benefit," Martin stated.
"I think people can try it, because there are really no
bad side effects," he said, adding that many may tolerate
acupuncture better than the medications often used for the
condition.
It's not clear, according to Martin, why the fatigue and
anxiety symptoms in particular improved, just as it's not
completely understood why acupuncture works at all.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture
points on the skin are connected to internal pathways that
conduct energy, and stimulating the points with a fine needle
promotes a balanced flow of this energy. Research in recent
years has suggested that acupuncture may work by altering
signals among nerve cells or affecting the release of various
chemicals of the central nervous system.
SOURCE: Mayo Clinic Proceedings, June 2006.
