Poor sleep quality is common among Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, with potential causative factors including chemical changes in the brain that disrupt sleep-wake cycles; PD medications that negatively affect the ability to fall or stay asleep; and mental-health challenges from living with the disease itself.
A recent single-center randomized, double-blind clinical trial1 suggests acupuncture may benefit PD patients. Among nearly 80 patients with self-reported moderate or severe sleep problems, as indicated by Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale scores at baseline, patients who received real acupuncture (RA) showed significant improvement in PDSS scores compared to patients who received sham acupuncture (SA). Differences were noted at four and eight weeks post-treatment.
As noted by the study authors in their findings, which appear in JAMA Network Open, “Participants in the RA group experienced a significant 29.65-point improvement in PDSS scores 4 weeks posttreatment, which persisted to 8 weeks of follow-up. ... Patients in the SA group also had a significant 10.47-point improvement in PDSS scores at week 4, but this effect did not persist during follow-up.”
All patients in the study received acupunture or sham acupuncture (three times per week for four weeks, 30-minute sessions) at the same acupoint locations (including bilateral connections): Si Shenzhen, Shen Ting (GV 24), Yin Tang (GV 29), He Gu (LI 4), Tai Chong (LR 3), San Yin Jiao (SP 6), Shen Men (HT 7), Zu San Li (ST 36), Shen Mai (BL 62), and Zhao Hai (K I6).
Editor’s Note: As this study is published in an open-access journal, the full text is available free of charge at https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2820371.
Reference
A research letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) provides early findings from the most recent (2022) survey on the use of complementary health approaches (CHA). The findings include data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which conducts interviews both by phone and in-person. The CHA results have been published in 2002, 2012 and again in 2022.
When learning traditional East Asian medicine, we are taught the four pillars of diagnosis: inspection, auscultation and olfaction, inquiry, and palpation. When it comes to palpation, there is often a quick mention of feeling the acupuncture channels, and then the focus moves on to pulse diagnosis. Little to no time is spent palpating the channels – or the skin for that matter.
Topical analgesics (TAs) are effective. In fact, the American Geriatric Society recommends the use of topical agents for localized neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain as a front-line measure. The benefit of TAs is their high compliance, ease of use, direct application to the painful site, and limited systemic cross-reactions. The real challenge is choosing the appropriate topical for each patient given the myriad choices available.
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