Acupuncture, PlasmaLeptinand Weight Loss

By Yun Brown, LAc

Obesity is continuously increasing in the U.S., making it a major health problem. There are many people who always feel hungry and never full and constantly struggle with their body weight. These people may be dealing with leptin sensitivity.

Leptin is a peptide hormone that is related to human weight. Leptins are released from fat cells, and are a major factor in appetite regulation. Leptin, a protein signal, circulates in the blood, and regulates digestive behavior and energy balance. Leptin provides a communication link from fat tissue to the brain. It appears to play a major role in the control of body fat stores through coordinated regulation of feeding behavior, metabolism, autonomic nervous system and body energy balance in humans. Levels of leptinincrease with increased body fat mass (BFM).

While obese people produce much higher levels of leptin than thin and normal-weight individuals, they are somehow resistant to its effects.

A recent clinical trial has foundthat acupuncture and dietary supplements may be effective at reducing the plasma leptin concentration and helping patients lose weight and suppress appetite.

A total of 61 cases of outpatients were randomly divided into control and treatment groups. Patients in the control group were treated with dietary adjustments and 30 minutes of aerobic exercise daily. Those in the treatment group were treated withacupuncturepoints, dietary adjustment and exercise daily, with 3 courses of treatment.

Compared with pre-treatment, the body weight and BMI and serumleptinlevels in the control and treatment groups were all decreased significantly. Comparison between the two groups showed that the body weight, BMI, and serumleptinlevel in the treatment group were all significantly lower than those in the control group. The different values of body weight and BMI between pre-treatment and post-treatment of the treatment group were obviously higher than those of the control group. This shows a better effect withacupuncture,dietary adjustments and exercise in the treatment of simple obesity.