Clinical Research of Acupuncture Therapy for Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Until this time a great deal of research of acupuncture therapy for diabetes mellitus has appeared, however very few reports have examined the relationship with the blood sugar value in most of the cases. Using 111 cases of diabetes mellitus treated over the past 5 years as subjects we performed a clinical study of acupuncture and moxibustion.
Therapy was divided into general treatment, normally administered generally, and classified treatment administered according to specific symptoms.
From among the 111 cases, eliminating 36 cases in which therapy was discontinued within 2 months of the start and 21 cases in which blood sugar was untested, there were 54 cases in which the blood sugar count was distinct.
Results were evaluated as one of 4 ranks, Excellent, Good, Stable, Ineffective, according to the improvement in the blood sugar count.
Results were excellent in 19 cases, good in 7 cases, stable in 18 cases and ineffective in 10 cases. The blood sugar count improved in about half of the cases.
Examining the relationship between the medical history and results, and the period of treatment and results, it was found that treatment was ineffective mostly in cases in which the history was long or in cases in which treatment was discontinued within a year.
A tendency was noted for good therapeutic results to be in direct proportion to the shortness of the disease history. Considering relationship with individual symptoms, there were no ineffective cases which showed accompanying symptoms of dryness of the mouth or fatigue. No remarkable relationship between the highness or lowness of the blood sugar count and therapeutic results appeared. Excellent results were observed even in cases in which the blood sugar count was high enough to warrant the use of insulin or oral anti-diabetic drug.
Thus it can be said that acupuncture-moxibustion therapy is a treatment method of applicable value for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.