Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Asthma

Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Asthma: A Randomized, Sham-acupuncture and Waiting-list Controlled Trial

What is the trend of changes in asthmatic patients' daily peak expiratory flow (PEF) variability, pulmonary function, and quality of life (QOL) with acupuncture treatment on specific acupoints (CV22 and bilateral LU5, ST40, BL13, EXB1) compared with minimal acupuncture treatment (sham control group) on non-acupoints, and no acupuncture treatment (waiting list control group)?

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged 19-70 years
• at least 12% improvement in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)after the administration of short acting beta2 agonist.
• at least one typical asthmatic symptom
• using more than one routine anti-asthmatic medicine

Exclusion Criteria:

• acupuncture for asthma within 12 months of the study
• emergency department visit within one month of the study
• hospitalization for asthma within three months of the study
• severe upper respiratory tract infections within six weeks of the study
• systemic infections, cancers, autoimmune disorders, cardiac failures, myofacial infarcts,angina pectoris, renal failures or hepato-biliary diseases
• smoke more than ten cigarettes per day