Research carried out in China has found that both manual and electro-acupuncture can improve quality of life for depressed patients undergoing treatment with the antidepressant paroxetine (Paxil). One hundred and fifty-seven patients with depression were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: drug control (paroxetine), verum acupuncture (VA – verum manual acupuncture + paroxetine) and electro-acupuncture (EA – verum electro-acupuncture + paroxetine). Manual and electro-acupuncture were applied to acupoints Baihui DU-20, Yintang N-HN-3, Fengfu DU-16, Dazhui DU-14, Neiguan P-6 and Sanyinjiao SP-6, three times per week for six weeks. Quality of life scores showed a significant increase in patients who underwent VA and EA, compared with those who were given paroxetine only. In addition, quality of life increased significantly in physical and social domains for VA recipients, compared with those who received paroxetine only, and scores in the psychological domain were also significantly elevated for EA compared with paroxetine only. (Improvement in quality of life in depressed patients following verum acupuncture or electroacupuncture plus paroxetine: a randomized controlled study of 157 cases. Neural Regen Res. 2012;7(27):2123-2129).
Categories: Psychological / emotional
