Cancer pain can be debilitating, whether it's pain caused by the disease itself or pain related to treatment. Fortunately, research suggests acupuncture can serve as a viable, nondrug therapy to combat cancer pain, giving patients already in great physical and emotional distress much-needed relief.
An important systematic review and meta-analysis just published in JAMA Oncology suggests acupuncture and/or acupressure is effective for reducing cancer pain. Researchers examined randomized clinical trials that compared acupuncture and acupressure with a sham control, analgesic therapy or usual care for managing cancer pain.
Overall, 17 RCTs (1,111 total patients) were included in the systematic review, and 14 RCTs (920 total patients) in the meta-analysis. The primary outcome was pain intensity measured by the Brief Pain Inventory, Numerical Rating Scale, Visual Analog Scale, or Verbal Rating Scale, with findings summarized as follows:
These findings are significant because, as the authors state, more than 70 percent of cancer patients experience pain, but pain is inadequately controlled in nearly 50 percent of cases; and also because "addiction to analgesics and the adverse effects of pharmacological interventions pose critical challenges to pain management."
When we talk about fertility, the focus is often placed on the ovaries and the uterus. Yet sperm-related factors contribute to nearly half of all cases of infertility. Whether someone is navigating fertility care alone or with a partner, and whether building a family through intercourse, IVI, IUI or IVF, it’s vital to include sperm health in the picture.
With some plans – and it starts with Medicare (CMS) – there is a payment protocol that may be referred to as a multi-therapy discount, but its official name is the multiple-procedure payment reduction (MPPR). If a health care provider performs multiple procedures during a single patient encounter, Medicare (and many commercial insurers) typically will pay “full price” for only the highest-valued procedure.
Our team of authors offer this paper (and this descriptive AT series) as a support for you as a professional, practitioner and member of the acupuncture community at large. We hope that it will serve to further the needs of acupuncturists everywhere and also act as a guide for those wishing to learn about Acupuncture Medicine – patients, healthcare decision makers, policymakers, and other stakeholders.