Person with Parkinson's syndrome holds trembling hands, under the held cup is a tea liquid.

Study on the effect of acupuncture on Parkinson's disease

Fang-Pey Chen et al.

May 2015

Neurology

TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine)

The present study on traditional Chinese medicine deals with the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. One trial was carried out on the short-term effectiveness and one on the long-term effectiveness: In the former, a control group consisting of 20 patients received only Western medicine over a period of 18 weeks, while 20 subjects in another group received supplementary acupuncture treatment twice a week. In the latter, the sample underwent the same therapy for 36 weeks. In both trials, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), BAI, BDI-II and WHO quality of life were measured.

In the short-term study, the group receiving acupuncture treatment achieved a greater improvement in UPDRS, BDI-II and WHO scores. In the long-term study, the corresponding values decreased again. Nevertheless, the study was able to prove that acupuncture has a positive effect on the symptoms of Parkinson's disease .

The most important information on the study at a glance

Indications: Parkinson's disease
Institution: Center for Traditional Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Title: Study on the effect of acupuncture on Parkinson's disease
Brief description: Study shows that acupuncture improves Parkinson's symptoms in the short term, but the effect diminishes in the long term.
Original title: A clinical study of integrating acupuncture and Western medicine in treating patients with Parkinson's disease
Link to the study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25967661/