More Complementary & Integrative Healthcare Articles
Acupuncture and Parkinson's Patients
What is your optimal quality of life? What do you want to do that you are not able to do right now? These are questions asked of patients who present quality of life challenges stemming from chronic conditions such as Parkinson's disease. When such illnesses substantially impact the daily activities we enjoy we suffer emotionally as well as physically, and this can lead to a cycle of low motivation and poor adherence to treatment protocols.
Parkinson's disease has an effect on the nervous system and is a progressively debilitating disease, which influences both motor and non-motor function. Parkinson's can take years to develop when the symptoms that impinge on daily living begin to show up. As it progresses, changes include the onset of tremors, slowness of movements, shuffling, difficulty swallowing, fainting, reduced arm sway, rigidity and dysfunction of speech and gait.
Medications used to treat Parkinson's include levodopa, COMT inhibitors, MAO-B inhibitors, and dopamine agonists, among others. Surgical interventions include the cranial implantation of wires for deep brain electrical stimulation.
While prescription medication, diet and exercise remain key aspects of Parkinson's treatment for most patients, acupuncture can provide additional support to patients for coping with physical symptoms such as loss of balance. In 2014, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology, Neurology, published a study by physicians from the University of Arizona that found acupuncture to be effective for the treatment of balance and gait disorders in Parkinson's patients.
Here's an example A recent patient was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2006. She had been symptomatic for about five years. During her first acupuncture appointment she reported difficultly walking and moving from a sitting to a standing position. She also reported trouble swallowing and occasional choking. After just two treatments of weekly one-hour acupuncture sessions, the patient noted marked improvement in her ability to maintain balance when climbing stairs and transitioning to and from a seated position. After the ninth treatment she also noted fewer instances of choking.
A 2002 study that appeared in the official journal of the Movement Disorder Society showed “85% of patients reported subjective improvement of individual symptoms including tremor, walking, handwriting, slowness, pain, sleep, depression, and anxiety after 10-16 acupuncture treatments.”
To determine how acupuncture may be able to help you or a loved one with symptoms of Parkinson's or other chronic ailments, visit a board certified and licensed acupuncturist near you.
