November 28, 2001 – Acupuncture may improve future prospects for people with chronic heart failure. This is what the American Heart Association reveals1 following a small study in critically ill patients and in evaluation for a heart transplant.
The 14 subjects were divided into three groups and underwent two mental stress tests for four minutes. After the first test, the researchers measured the patients’ blood pressure, heartbeat, and sympathetic nerve activity. This increased by 25% for all subjects.
A group then passed the second test with needles inserted at particular acupuncture points, another with needles at points not traditionally recognized in acupuncture and a third believing to have needles (placebo). The first group then experienced a decrease in sympathetic nerve activity while that of the other two groups was similar to the first test.
It therefore emerges from this study that acupuncture seems to reduce the activity of the sympathetic nerve. This result opens up new horizons for people suffering from heart failure and whose sympathetic nerve activity can be two to three times higher than that of people without heart failure. However, more studies on a larger scale and over a longer duration will be necessary for acupuncture to be recommended as a routine treatment.
Élisabeth Mercader – PasseportSanté.net
According to Intelihealth of November 14, 2001.
1. Acupuncture calms nerves, improves heart function. American Heart Association [Site web: americanheartassociation.org]. [Consulté le 27 novembre 2001]. http://216.185.112.5/presenter.jhtml?identifier=12019