In a nutshell
This paper aimed to determine the efficacy of acupuncture for high blood pressure.
Some background
Essential hypertension refers to high blood pressure from no known cause. It can cause various health complications. Antihypertensive drugs can help reduce blood pressure. While effective, there are side effects from the drugs and patients become resistant to the effect of drugs over time.
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese therapy involving the insertion of needles into specific points on the body surfaces. It is used to treat a wide range of diseases. Several cases suggests that acupuncture could be effective for treating essential hypertension. However, studies so far have had varied results.
Methods & findings
The authors identified and analysed the results from 23 various trials. There was a total of 1788 patients with hypertension.
7 studies comparing acupuncture versus Western medicine did not find any favorable effect of acupuncture on blood pressure. 3 studies comparing acupuncture plus medication versus medication alone did not find any favorable effect of acupuncture on blood pressure.
2 studies found that there were no significant differences between acupuncture and sham acupuncture (procedure that has no real effect). Another 2 studies found that acupuncture plus Western medicine was better at reducing blood pressure compared to sham acupuncture plus Western medicine.
4 studies compared acupuncture plus Western medicine versus medication alone. This analysis found that patients who underwent acupuncture plus western medicine were 4.19 times more likely to have a favorable effect than medication alone. The other 10 studies compared acupuncture versus Western medicine. Acupuncture was not significantly more effective than Western medication when used alone.
Most trials did not report adverse events (undesired effect of drug).
The bottom line
The authors concluded that adding acupuncture to Western medicine was more effective at reducing blood pressure than medication alone.
What’s next?
Talk to your doctor about whether acupuncture is right for you.
Published By :
PLOS ONE
Date :
Jul 24, 2015
