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

    Review: Acupuncture for functional recovery after stroke

    It’s frequently recommended as a facet of treatment during stroke rehabilitation.

    Prof. Ernst reviewed acupuncture in this setting.

    First, the details.

    • 10 of 664 potentially relevant studies met the inclusion criteria.
    • These studies compared the effects of acupuncture (with or without electrical stimulation) to sham acupuncture.

    And, the results.

    • 7 studies evaluated the acute and subacute stages after stroke.
      • There was no significant difference in favor of acupuncture based on a meta-analysis of data from 7 studies.
      • There was no evidence of improvement in activities of daily living after treatment or follow-up based on reanalysis of the results from 4 studies with low risk of bias.
    • 3 studies tested the effects of acupuncture during the chronic stage after stroke.
      • There was no benefit on function according to the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS).
        • MAS measures muscle hypertonia, which occurs when muscles have increased resting activity and resistance to stretch.

    The bottom line?

    Prof. Ernst and colleagues concluded; “data from rigorous randomized sham-controlled trials did not show a positive effect of acupuncture as a treatment for functional recovery after stroke.”

    10/3/10 20:41 JR

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