Sino-European Transcontinental Basic and Clinical High-Tech Acupuncture Studies—Part 4: “Fire of Life” Analysis of Heart Rate Variability during Acupuncture in Clinical Studies

This fourth part of a series of Sino-European high-tech acupuncture studies describes the first clinical transcontinental teleacupuncture measurements in two patients (cervical spine syndrome and tachycardia; both 27 years old) from the Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine affiliated to Capital Medical University, China. The electrocardiographic data were transferred to the Stronach Research Unit for Complementary and Integrative Laser Medicine and the TCM Research Center in Graz via conventional internet connections. Data analysis was performed in Graz using a new “Fire of Life” heart rate variability analysis. Analysis was performed without any technical problems in both subjects. Heart rate decreased significantly during acupuncture in the two patients from Beijing. At the same time, total HRV increased during acupuncture. The different influences of HRV (respiratory sinus arrhythmia, blood pressure waves, etc.) could be clearly documented using the new “Fire of Life” analysis

Influence of acupuncture on cognitive function and markers of oxidative DNA damage in patients with vascular dementia

AbstractObjectiveTo test the influence of acupuncture on cognitive function and a marker of oxidative DNA damage in patients with vascular dementia (VD).MethodsSixteen VD patients were evaluated before and after acupuncture, using the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination-Revised (MMSE-R) to assess cognitive function, and the ADL-R scale to assess independence in activities of daily living (ADL). Life quality was evaluated using the DEMQOL (Dementia quality of life questionnaire) questionnaire, and syndromes and expression of vascular dementia were evaluated with the Scale for the Differentiation of Syndromes of Vascular Dementia (SDSVD). In addition, the urine concentration of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) —a marker of oxidative damage—was quantified with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsThe MMSE-R and DEMQOL scores were higher after acupuncture than before (P<0.05), while there were no obvious differences in the ADL-R or SDSVD scores (P>0.05). The 8-OHdG content in urine significantly decreased after acupuncture (P<0.05).ConclusionAcupuncture reduces the levels of 8-OHdG and improves cognitive function and quality of life in VD patients, suggesting that acupuncture is beneficial at least in part by preventing oxidative damage

The Holistic Effects of Acupuncture Treatment

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), as a complex medical science which reflects philosophical principles and embodies large dialectical thought, is used to place the human body into a large system for observation. Acupuncture as a vital part of TCM, has been practiced to treat various diseases and symptoms. However, acupuncture is also facing severe challenges resulted from insufficient modern scientific research. Nowadays, the holistic effects of acupuncture can be researched by some modern approaches, such as the systems biology and fMRI technique. It is believed that having a better understand will greatly promote acupuncture research and be beneficial to scientization and modernization of acupuncture

Acupuncture Mechanism and Redox Equilibrium

Oxidative stress participates in the pathological process of various diseases. Acupuncture is a component of the health care system in China that can be traced back for at least 3000 years. Recently, increased evidences indicate that acupuncture stimulation could reduce oxidative damage in organisms under pathological state, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. This review focuses on the emerging links between acupuncture and redox modulation in various disorders, such as vascular dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and hypertension, ranging from redox system, antioxidant system, anti-inflammatory system, and nervous system to signaling pathway. Although the molecular and cellular pathways studies of acupuncture effect on oxidative stress are preliminary, they represent an important step forward in the research of acupuncture antioxidative effect

Fasudil in Combination With Bone Marrow Stromal Cells (BMSCs) Attenuates Alzheimer\u27s Disease-Related Changes Through the Regulation of the Peripheral Immune System.

Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease. Its mechanism is still not clear. Majority of research focused on the central nervous system (CNS) changes, while few studies emphasize on peripheral immune system modulation. Our study aimed to investigate the regulation of the peripheral immune system and its relationship to the severity of the disease after treatment in an AD model of APPswe/PSEN1dE9 transgenic (APP/PS1 Tg) mice. APP/PS1 Tg mice (8 months old) were treated with the ROCK-II inhibitor 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-homo-piperazine (Fasudil) (intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections, 25 mg/kg/day), bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs; caudal vein injections, 1 × 1

The Flare and Warp of the Young Stellar Disk traced with LAMOST DR5 OB-type stars

We present analysis of the spatial density structure for the outer disk from 8$-$14 \,kpc with the LAMOST DR5 13534 OB-type stars and observe similar flaring on north and south sides of the disk implying that the flaring structure is symmetrical about the Galactic plane, for which the scale height at different Galactocentric distance is from 0.14 to 0.5 \,kpc. By using the average slope to characterize the flaring strength we find that the thickness of the OB stellar disk is similar but flaring is slightly stronger compared to the thin disk as traced by red giant branch stars, possibly implying that secular evolution is not the main contributor to the flaring but perturbation scenarios such as interactions with passing dwarf galaxies should be more possible. When comparing the scale height of OB stellar disk of the north and south sides with the gas disk, the former one is slightly thicker than the later one by $\approx$ 33 and 9 \,pc, meaning that one could tentatively use young OB-type stars to trace the gas properties. Meanwhile, we unravel that the radial scale length of the young OB stellar disk is 1.17 $\pm$ 0.05 \,kpc, which is shorter than that of the gas disk, confirming that the gas disk is more extended than stellar disk. What is more, by considering the mid-plane displacements ($Z_{0}$) in our density model we find that almost all of $Z_{0}$ are within 100 \,pc with the increasing trend as Galactocentric distance increases.Comment: 14 pages and 8 figures, Accepted by APJ for publicatio

Acupuncture Effect and Central Autonomic Regulation

Acupuncture is a therapeutic technique and part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Acupuncture has clinical efficacy on various autonomic nerve-related disorders, such as cardiovascular diseases, epilepsy, anxiety and nervousness, circadian rhythm disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and subfertility. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that acupuncture can control autonomic nerve system (ANS) functions including blood pressure, pupil size, skin conductance, skin temperature, muscle sympathetic nerve activities, heart rate and/or pulse rate, and heart rate variability. Emerging evidence indicates that acupuncture treatment not only activates distinct brain regions in different kinds of diseases caused by imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic activities, but also modulates adaptive neurotransmitter in related brain regions to alleviate autonomic response. This review focused on the central mechanism of acupuncture in modulating various autonomic responses, which might provide neurobiological foundations for acupuncture effects