The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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    Acupuncture for chronic prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain

    Researchers from the University of Science in Malaysia report improvement in symptoms lasting up to 24 weeks.

    First, the details.

    • Participants had a total score of at least 15 on the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) and symptoms for at least 3 of the preceding 6 months.
    • They were randomly assigned to twice-weekly 30-minute sessions of acupuncture or sham acupuncture for 10 weeks.
    • No needle stimulation, herbs, or adjuvants were used.

    And, the results.

    • 32 (73%) of 44 participants responded in the acupuncture group vs 21 (47%) of 45 sham group participants.
    • Long-term responses 24 weeks after therapy without additional treatment occurred in 14 (32%) of 44 acupuncture group participants and in 6 (13%) of 45 sham group participants.
    • Both findings were statistically significant for acupuncture.

    The bottom line?
    The authors concluded, “Acupuncture proved almost twice as likely as sham treatment to improve chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain symptoms. Participants receiving acupuncture were 2.4-fold more likely to experience long-term benefit than were participants receiving sham acupuncture.”

    In an earlier study, the results were also positive, although little detail was provided in the abstract.

    1/13/08 12:56 JR

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