Xie Y, Wang L, He J, Wu T.
Patients who have swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) as a result of their stroke are less likely to survive and be free of disability than stroke patients who can swallow normally.
BACKGROUND: Dysphagia after acute stroke is associated with poor prognosis, particularly if prolonged. Acupuncture has been widely used for this complication in China. However, its therapeutic effect is unclear. OBJECTIVES: To determine the therapeutic effect of acupuncture for dysphagia after acute stroke compared with placebo, sham or no acupuncture intervention.
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AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is not enough evidence to make any conclusion about the therapeutic effect of acupuncture for dysphagia after acute stroke. High quality and large scale randomised controlled trials are needed.
Zak website:www.backachetherapy.co.uk
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Does acupuncture really work to help stroke victims improve? Many studies involving thousands of patients have been published in China and Japan, and 2 of 3 studies from Scandinavia, demonstrated significant help. These studies indicate that patients get well faster, perform better in self-care, require less nursing and rehabilitation therapy, and use less healthcare dollars. However, since most studies come from China, they get little credence from the Western medical community because researchers in China do not appear to be published unless their results are highly positive, so publication bias is possible. And, no money has been made available in the United States for studies needed to confirm the claims of experts in China and Japan of indeed helping stroke patients. Such studies, if done well, demand significant funding; sources of such money are difficult to find. Most physicians, including rehabilitation experts, have appeared unwilling to consider acupuncture therapy, not due to bias but because the published studies do not necessarily meet research study criteria for the United States.----Quote from Russ Erickson, MD article,medicalacupuncture.org
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source:J Rehabil Med. 2009 Apr;41(5):312-6.Wind syndrome and phlegm syndrome are the major single syndromes occurring in acute ischemic stroke patients within 30 days of onset, and three-syndrome combination is the most frequent multiple syndrome type. After acupuncture treatment, some syndrome elements including wind, phlegm, fire-heat, qi deficiency, blood stasis, and hyperactivity of yang due to yin deficiency are gradually reduced, and combined syndrome type is gradually become simple. Eight syndrome element items including reddish face, constipation, yellow tongue fur, short breath, bright-white or gray complexion, tinnitus, feverish palms and soles and scanty tongue fur have important means in discriminating yin syndrome from yang syndrome and sthenia syndrome from asthenia syndrome.
