October 6, 2005 – Practicing a simple acupressure technique could promote alertness and even counter drowsiness.
Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in the United States conducted a clinical trial1 from 39 medical students who attended three full days of classes and conferences.
The participants had previously been taught a technique of self-massage of certain specific points associated, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, either with relaxation or with stimulation. The subjects did not know which of these points, located on the legs, feet, hands and head, were supposed to stimulate them and which were to relax them.
This was a crossover trial protocol, that is, the students massaged the relaxation points at certain times and then the stimulation points at others. The procedure involved tapping the points with the fingers or massaging them with the thumb and forefinger. Each session lasted 15 minutes during the lunch break.
The results indicate that the self-massage of the stimulation points had the effect of increasing alertness and countering drowsiness in the subjects. They also felt less fatigue when massaging the stimulation points rather than the relaxation points.
The researchers plan to continue their work on acupressure. They will check, in particular, whether this practice can have an impact on school learning.
The authors of this study received financial support from the United States National Institutes of Health.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
According to Medical News Today, WebMD and HealthDay News.
1. Harris RE, Jeter J, Chan P, Higgins P, Kong FM, Fazel R, Bramson C, Gillespie B. Using acupressure to modify alertness in the classroom: a single-blinded, randomized, cross-over trial.J Altern Complement Med. 2005 Aug; 11 (4): 673-9.
