The journal of alternative and complementary medicine : research on paradigm, practice, and policy
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J Altern Complement Med · May 2014
Clinical TrialDextrose and morrhuate sodium injections (prolotherapy) for knee osteoarthritis: a prospective open-label trial.
This study determined whether injection with hypertonic dextrose and morrhuate sodium (prolotherapy) using a pragmatic, clinically determined injection schedule for knee osteoarthritis (KOA) results in improved knee pain, function, and stiffness compared to baseline status. ⋯ Prolotherapy using dextrose and morrhuate sodium injections for participants with mild-to-severe KOA resulted in safe, significant, sustained improvement of WOMAC-based knee pain, function, and stiffness scores compared to baseline status.
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J Altern Complement Med · May 2014
Observational StudyAuricular acupressure helps improve sleep quality for severe insomnia in maintenance hemodialysis patients: a pilot study.
Insomnia is common in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Long-term use of sedative-hypnotic agents is often correlated with increasing adverse effects. Auricular acupressure therapy (AAT) applied to specific auricular acupoints for managing insomnia has achieved favorable outcomes in a hemodialysis unit. This pilot study was performed to demonstrate the potential of AAT for insomnia in MHD patients and to prepare for a future randomized controlled trial. ⋯ In this single-center pilot study, complementary AAT for MHD patients with severe insomnia was feasible and well tolerated and showed encouraging results for sleep quality.
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J Altern Complement Med · Mar 2014
ReviewSham control methods used in ear-acupuncture/ear-acupressure randomized controlled trials: a systematic review.
Ear-acupuncture/ear-acupressure (EAP) has been used for a range of health conditions with numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating its efficacy and safety. However, the design of sham interventions in these RCTs varied significantly. This study systematically reviewed RCTs on EAP for all clinical conditions involving a number of sham EAPs as a control intervention. ⋯ Meta-analysis was not conducted due to the high clinical heterogeneity across included studies. No relationship was found between the sham designs and efficacy outcomes, or between the sham types and dropout rate. No solid conclusion of which design is the most appropriate sham control of EAP could be drawn in this review.