For people with myasthenia gravis (MG), acupuncture may be a safe and helpful additional treatment to use together with standard medications, according to a recent study published in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health.
MG is usually treated with medications that suppress the immune system, but long-term use can increase the risk of infections, organ damage and even cancer. Some patients also report that medications alone don’t fully control their symptoms.
Some doctors think that acupuncture, a traditional Chinese medicine technique involving the insertion of very thin needles through your skin at specific points on your body, may be beneficial for people with MG.
To test the efficacy of acupuncture in MG, the researchers randomly assigned 24 adults with MG to either start acupuncture immediately or after a 12-week delay. The study participants received acupuncture treatment twice a week for 12 weeks. The acupuncturists used a standard set of acupuncture points with some adjustments for each participant. Of the 24 who enrolled in the study, 17 completed all sessions.
Three-quarters of patients said they noticed improvements in symptoms such as drooping eyelids, double vision, swallowing difficulties, weakness or fatigue. Additionally, some patients reported better sleep, more energy and reduced anxiety following acupuncture. On average, patients rated acupuncture’s helpfulness at 3.6 out of 5.
Acupuncture was generally safe. Out of 53 reported health events during the study, only 17 were considered likely linked to acupuncture, and these were mild, such as bleeding and bruising at the needle insertion points. Importantly, no serious side effects were caused by the treatment.
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“The results of this study demonstrated that acupuncture treatment for adults with MG was feasible and safe,” the researchers said. However, they cautioned that this was a small, early trial. They plan to carry out a larger, carefully-designed study to confirm whether acupuncture can truly improve MG symptoms and quality of life.
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