It’s commonly done in East Asian countries.

Researchers at Kyung Hee University, in Seoul, South Korea, reviewed the evidence.

First, the details.

• 5 studies, all poorly designed, were available for review.

And, the results.

• Moxibustion + oral administration of micronase (glibenclamide, Glyburide) showed significant effects of moxibustion on control of blood sugar.
• Moxibustion showed significant improvement in fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels vs conventional treatment.
• Moxibustion + acupuncture showed the more favorable effects on the control of blood glucose, urine glucose, and A1c than either treatment alone in 2 studies.
• A final observational study reported positive effects with moxibustion.

The bottom line?

The authors concluded, “It is difficult to conclude that moxibustion is an effective intervention for the control of type 2 diabetes mellitus due to the scarcity of trials and the low methodological quality of included studies.”

It’s not worth the time to conduct poorly designed studies. The outcomes are meaningless.

8/10/11 21:41 JR