Core tip: Dr. John Longhurst, who carried out this study, pointed out that this clinical study is the crystallization of more than ten years of experimental research in this field. It uses western scientific thinking to verify the ancient oriental treatment methods, and integrates traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, providing new guidelines for the treatment of hypertension.
Recently, researchers from the University of California, Irvine, found that acupuncture treatment of hypertension can promote blood pressure drop in patients with hypertension, lasting up to one and a half months. This work is the first scientific evidence that this traditional Chinese medicine treatment is beneficial for mild to moderate hypertension, suggesting that regular acupuncture may help people control blood pressure and prevent the risk of stroke and heart disease.
Dr. John Longhurst, who carried out the study, pointed out that the clinical study is the crystallization of more than ten years of experimental research in this field. It uses western scientific thinking to verify the ancient oriental treatment methods, and integrates traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, providing new guidelines for the treatment of hypertension.
In this study, the researchers studied 65 hypertensive patients who had not received any drug treatment. They randomly divided the patients into two groups and received electroacupuncture at different points of the body. In one group of patients, the researchers applied electroacupuncture on both sides of their inner wrists and slightly lower each knee and found that 70% of the participants had a visible drop in blood pressure, and the improvement lasted for a month and a half.
The researchers also found that the concentration of norepinephrine, which can raise blood pressure and blood glucose, and renin also decreased in some participants of this group. Besides, electroacupuncture could also reduce the concentration of aldosterone. The other group of participants who received electroacupuncture at other acupoints had no significant change in blood pressure.
The researchers pointed out that although the level of blood pressure drop among participants in the study was relatively small, it still had important clinical significance. The technology may be more effective in treating patients with systolic hypertension older than 60 years old, and it also has a certain significance in reducing the risk of stroke, peripheral arterial disease, heart failure, and myocardial infarction in patients with hypertension.
