Health & Medicine
Acupuncture Along with Usual Care Benefits Depressed Patients
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Sep 25, 2013 04:56 AM EDT
Several studies around the globe have indicated that acupuncture has a positive and holistic effect on depression as well as other conditions associated with depression. Exploring the same, a new study claims that acupuncture along with usual care might improve depression symptoms.
The latest study conducted by researchers from the Centre for Health Economics at York and Hull York Medical School suggests that acupuncture is as good as counseling if combined with the usual care given to patients with depression. The researchers noticed that after three months of this combined treatment, one in three patients with recurring depression no longer displayed any symptoms of depression.
The study conducted in a primary care setting was led by Dr Hugh MacPherson of the Department of Health Service at York. The study involved 755 people both men and women who suffered from moderate and severe depression.
Depression is a mental illness that makes people feel low and sad. It greatly affects a person's thinking. There are over 19 million American adults living with major depression. The symptoms of depression may surprise you as there are different types of this disorder.
Studies have reemphasized that acupuncture might prove to be the missing link in treating depression. Acupuncture helps in restoring the body's balance. It is one of the most safe and affordable treatments.
In this study, the researchers randomized 302 subjects with depression to receive 12 weekly sessions of acupuncture including usual care or 12 weekly sessions of counseling including usual care (302 patients) and 151 patients to just usual care.
The researchers observed that when compared to the subjects who received just usual care, there was a significant reduction in the average depression scores after three months in both groups receiving acupuncture and counseling. But they observed no difference in the depression scores between the acupuncture and counseling groups.
Due to the improvement in the depression scores in the usual care group at nine and 12 months, acupuncture and counseling were no longer better than the usual care.
Dr MacPherson concludes, "Although these findings are encouraging, our study does not identify which aspects of acupuncture and counselling are likely to be most beneficial to patients, nor does it provide information about the effectiveness of acupuncture or counselling, compared with usual care, for patients with mild depression. We have provided evidence that acupuncture versus usual care and counselling versus usual care are both associated with a significant reduction in symptoms of depression in the short to medium term, and are not associated with serious adverse events. "
The finding is documented in the journal PLOS Medicine.
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First Posted: Sep 25, 2013 04:56 AM EDT
Several studies around the globe have indicated that acupuncture has a positive and holistic effect on depression as well as other conditions associated with depression. Exploring the same, a new study claims that acupuncture along with usual care might improve depression symptoms.
The latest study conducted by researchers from the Centre for Health Economics at York and Hull York Medical School suggests that acupuncture is as good as counseling if combined with the usual care given to patients with depression. The researchers noticed that after three months of this combined treatment, one in three patients with recurring depression no longer displayed any symptoms of depression.
The study conducted in a primary care setting was led by Dr Hugh MacPherson of the Department of Health Service at York. The study involved 755 people both men and women who suffered from moderate and severe depression.
Depression is a mental illness that makes people feel low and sad. It greatly affects a person's thinking. There are over 19 million American adults living with major depression. The symptoms of depression may surprise you as there are different types of this disorder.
Studies have reemphasized that acupuncture might prove to be the missing link in treating depression. Acupuncture helps in restoring the body's balance. It is one of the most safe and affordable treatments.
In this study, the researchers randomized 302 subjects with depression to receive 12 weekly sessions of acupuncture including usual care or 12 weekly sessions of counseling including usual care (302 patients) and 151 patients to just usual care.
The researchers observed that when compared to the subjects who received just usual care, there was a significant reduction in the average depression scores after three months in both groups receiving acupuncture and counseling. But they observed no difference in the depression scores between the acupuncture and counseling groups.
Due to the improvement in the depression scores in the usual care group at nine and 12 months, acupuncture and counseling were no longer better than the usual care.
Dr MacPherson concludes, "Although these findings are encouraging, our study does not identify which aspects of acupuncture and counselling are likely to be most beneficial to patients, nor does it provide information about the effectiveness of acupuncture or counselling, compared with usual care, for patients with mild depression. We have provided evidence that acupuncture versus usual care and counselling versus usual care are both associated with a significant reduction in symptoms of depression in the short to medium term, and are not associated with serious adverse events. "
The finding is documented in the journal PLOS Medicine.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone