Abdominal and auricular acupuncture reduces blood pressure in hypertensive patients. (April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Abdi, Hamid; Tayefi, Maryam; Moallem, Seyed Reza; Zhao, Baxiao; Fayaz, Mojtaba; Ardabili, Hossein Mohaddes; Razavi, Akram-Alsadat; Darbandi, Mahsa; Darbandi, Sara; Abbasi, Parisa; Ferns, Gordon A.; Ghayour-Mobarhan, Majid
• Is Part Of: Complementary therapies in medicine. Volume 31(2017)
• Page Start: 20
• Page End: 26
• Publication Date: 2017-04
• Subjects: Acupuncture -- Hypertension -- Cardiovascular disease; Alternative medicine -- Periodicals; Complementary Therapies -- Periodicals; Médecines parallèles -- Périodiques; Thérapeutique -- Périodiques; Alternative medicine; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 615.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2017.01.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0965-2299

Abstract

Highlights: Abdominal method is capable of reducing both systolic and diastolic measurements. Auricular acupuncture could have short-lived adverse effects on both SBP and DBP. Abdominal electroacupuncture is a highly effective treatment for the ones who are at risk of developing hypertension. Abstract: Introduction: Hypertension is an important risk factor of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is associated with premature death, myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and renal disease. The goal of the present study was to use a randomized controlled clinical trial to explore and compare the effectiveness of abdominal and auricular acupuncture on blood pressure in 440 subjects with and without obesity. Methods: Four hundred participants were recruited and randomized to one of four groups: cases and controls receiving auricular acupuncture (204 subjects) and cases and controls receiving abdominal electroacupuncture (196 subjects). Blood pressure and anthropometric parameters were measured before and after the intervention period. In order to match the initial diet of the groups, participants were required to follow an isocaloric diet for two weeks before the trial, and a low-calorie diet for 6 weeks during the intervention period. Results: We observed a significant time dependent improvement in the systolic blood pressure measurements in the abdominal intervention group, although this improvement was more pronounce in the first period of study. Of note, in the auricular intervention group, a significant increasing in the level of SBP was detected. Importantly no statistically significant changes were found in the corresponding sham groups. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that abdominal electro-acupuncture for 6 weeks reduced both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and auricular acupuncture had a short-term adverse effect on both SBP and DBP.