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.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Acupuncture to treat heartburn

    “Adding acupuncture is more effective than doubling the proton pump inhibitor dose,” according to researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson.

    First, the details.

    • 30 patients with classic heartburn symptoms who continued to be symptomatic on standard-dose proton pump inhibitors were enrolled into the study.
      • Examples of proton pump inhibitors include omeprazole (Losec, Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid), esomeprazole (Nexium), pantoprazole (Protonix), rabeprazole (Aciphex)
    • Each patient received upper endoscopy while on proton pump inhibitors once daily.
    • They were then randomly assigned to adding acupuncture to their proton pump inhibitor or doubling the proton pump inhibitor dose over 4 weeks.
    • An expert delivered acupuncture twice a week.

    And, the results.

    • The acupuncture + proton pump inhibitor group had a significant decrease in the average scores for daytime heartburn, nighttime heartburn, and acid regurgitation at the end of treatment compared to baseline.
    • The double-dose proton pump inhibitor group had no change in response.
    • The general health score was only significantly improved in the acupuncture + proton pump inhibitor group.

    The bottom line?
    These findings are supported by an earlier study that showed alterations in gastric myoelectrical activity with acupressure.

    4/2/08 20:07 JR

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