Electrical activities detected from the experimentally-induced trigger points in human subjects.
Objectives : To examine the pathogenic mechanisms of the trigger points, electrical activities were recorded from the experimentally-induced trigger points.
Methods : Nine healthy volunteers who gave informed consent were used. The adjustable loads were set around the third finger and repetitive eccentric contraction was loaded on the extensor digital muscles. The subjects were asked to keep the position as long as possible. The loadings (about 10s) were continued until his all-out effort and were repeated 3 times with 5 min resting periods. The electrical activities in the skin, fascia and muscle of the trigger point and non-tender region of palpable band and 10mm outside the band were recorded on the second day after the eccentric exercise.
Results : Repetitive eccentric exercise produced a trigger point within the palpable band, which developed on the second day after the exercise. Electrical activities were detected only when the electrode tip was located in or near the fascia of the trigger point and there were subjective dull pain sensations. When the radial nerve was blocked by lidocaine, the needle EMG activity could not be recorded.
Conclusions : These results suggest that the EMG activities are the result of nociceptive reflex, and the sensitized nociceptors in the fascia of the palpable band might be a substrate for the trigger point.

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The effect of acupuncture treatment on ending peripheral facial nerve paralysis was examined using standard set by the Japan Society of Facial Nerve Treatment. A comparison was made of how recovery was affected by acupuncture treatment alone, drug treatment alone, and a combination of drugs (steroids) and acupuncture.
As a result we found that 1) in groups having an ENoG of 41% or more, the acupuncture-only group showed less recovery than did the group that received oral steroids. 2) Among the groups having an ENoG of 21% or more, there was no significant difference between the group given oral steroids and the group given both steroids and acupuncture treatment. 3) For groups having an ENoG of 1%-20%, there was no difference in recovery between the group given large doses of injected steroids and the group given large doses of injected steroids concommitant with acupuncture. But the group that was given both oral steroids and acupuncture did not recover as well as the other groups. 4) A comparison of the groups receiving only medication and receiving medication with acupuncture showed there was no special hastening of recovery seen with the administration of acupuncture; in fact, the acupuncture may have even delayed recovery.
The above results indicate that the administration of steroids is more important than the use acupuncture in the treatment of peripheral facial nerve paralysis, and that a suitable treatment should commence within 7 days after the occurrence of symptoms.

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Before now, it had almost never been reported that acupuncture therapy effects insulin-dependent diabetesmellitus. This is because acupuncture therapy not only can not bring about a radical cure, but also decreases insulin in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
In this paper we present our findings from a college clinic that acupuncture therapy which was based on the traditional pulse examination of the “Nan Jing”, was efficacous for restoring blood sugar levels of an insulindependent patient.
From symptoms and signs in oriental diagnosis we deduced that the condition of a disease like this case had a metabolic defect on the body as a whole. We treated it with acupuncture therapy based on the traditional theory and monitored the variation of blood sugar levels for six months.
As a result, we found that this case of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus clearly showed blood sugar levels returning to normal with improvement of related symptoms, e.g., paralysis, constipation, feeling of cold, etc.
As we could not find any factors influencing the change in the subject's blood sugar levels, such as changes of administered drugs, climate social environment, etc., it is conceivable that this restoration of blood sugar levels was induced by the traditional acupuncture effect.

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[in Japanese]

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