Tratamiento con electroacupuntura de los síntomas de las alteraciones digestivas y de salud mental

Abstract

Objective

Demonstrate that acupuncture has a high therapeutic potential to treat patients with symptoms of digestive system disorders and mental health (depression, anxiety and sleep quality).

Materials and methods

A electroacupuncture treatment was developed to evaluate ten patients with digestive, sleep and mental health disorders using the baihui (Du 20), shenting (Du 24), and zusanli (E 36) points, inserting the needle through the skin (between 10 and 15°) baihui and shenting (connected for electrostimulation), and 90° to the bilateral zusanli point (bilateral electrostimulation), in 8 sessions of 20 min each, two times per week.

Results

After the 8 sessions, all the patients showed improvement in the signs and symptoms of the digestive system and reduced their 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale scores.

Conclusions

In this study we evaluated the therapeutic effect of the usage of electroacupuncture in 8 session (4 weeks), using the baihui (Du 20), shenting (Du 24) and zusanli (E 36) points in patients with digestive, sleep and mental health disorders. This study demonstrates the high therapeutic potential that electroacupuncture could have to attend these disorders in the population worldwide and that its use and more clinical studies can be promoted to promote and demonstrate its effectiveness.