Acupuncture treatment helps prevent strokes in people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, who are at much higher risk than average, according to a study.
- Adults with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that manifests as chronic inflammatory rheumatism, are more likely than average to suffer a stroke.
- Rheumatoid arthritis patients who received acupuncture treatment had a 43% lower risk of having a stroke, regardless of age, gender, medication use or history. health.
- Acupuncture helps reduce levels of pro-inflammatory proteins (cytokines) in the body and regulate high blood pressure and lipid abnormalities (both risk factors for ischemic stroke).
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease that manifests as chronic inflammatory rheumatism and affects at least 0.5% of adults, are more likely than average to suffer a stroke ( stroke). But this double punishment is not necessarily inevitable: acupuncture, which has already proven effective in managing chronic pain and reducing inflammation in the body, could well help prevent risks, according to a new study.
Acupuncture reduces stroke risk by 43% in rheumatoid arthritis patients
To arrive at their conclusions, published in the British Medical Journal Open, the researchers relied on medical records from a database in Taiwan including some 23,000 adults diagnosed with RA between 1997 and 2010. Among them, more than 12,000 were treated with acupuncture (manual, electric or both). ) on average three years after their diagnosis, carrying out a total of around ten sessions. Other factors were also taken into account, such as the age and sex of the patients, their medical history (diabetes, hypertension, anxiety, smoking, etc.) or their consumption of medications against RA (anti-inflammatories, statins…).
During the study period, 946 participants underwent “an ischemic stroke (caused by a blood clot in the brain) associated with systemic inflammation”, unsurprisingly, this mainly concerned those with advanced age and suffering from pre-existing health problems, such as high blood pressure or diabetes. The results, however, confirm the benefits of acupuncture: patients who benefited from it had a 43% lower risk of being struck by a stroke – and this, regardless of age, sex, or taking medication. or health history.
Acupuncture reduces inflammation in the body and therefore the risk of ischemic stroke
“Inflammation is a consistent and independent predictor of cardiovascular disease in RA,” explain the authors of the research in a communicated. However, acupuncture makes it possible to “reduce the levels of pro-inflammatory proteins (cytokines) in the body, and thus reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, including ischemic stroke”. In addition, acupuncture treatments have the advantage of “regulate both high blood pressure and lipid abnormalities [comme un cholestérol élevé]two risk factors for ischemic stroke.
Without forgetting the purely analgesic effects of traditional Chinese medicine: “If acupuncture relieved joint pain in the morning, patients would be more inclined to do more physical activity on a daily basis, which naturally prevents cardiovascular and stroke risk”conclude the researchers.