Women reported reduced anxiety, depression, less cravings

Acupuncture: Reduced anxiety, depression, less cravings

A research paper on acupuncture for women with additions discovered, that auricular acupuncture shows promise as an adjunct therapy psychoeducational program. Acupuncture was a viable treatment alternative to anti-anxiety drugs anxiolytics.

In this controlled trial, women who receiving acupuncture reported

  • reduced physiological cravings for substances,
  • felt significantly less depressed, less anxious, and
  • were able to better reflect on and resolve difficulties

This is equally valuable for women seeking treatment weight loss.

This study was published in Family & Community Health April/June 2007 Volume 30 Number 2 Pages 112 – 120.

Fibromyalgia :: Acupuncture effectively relieves pain, anxiety and tiredness

Fibromyalgia is a disabling disorder. It is characterized by chronic, widespread musculoskeletal pain and symptoms. It’s often keeps company with fatigue, joint stiffness, memory and concentration problems, anxiety, depression and disturbed sleep.

The exact cause of fibromyalgia remains unknown, but it is believed to involve a combination of genetic, environmental, and psychological factors that affect the way the nervous system processes pain signals.  No cure is known and available, most of the treatments are only partially effective.

Researchers are often turning their heads to time-tested acupuncture when there is no pharmacological option available. A dedicated team of researchers from Mayo Clinic College of Medicine embarked on an adventure to test the hypothesis that acupuncture could improve the symptoms of fibromyalgia. They designed a study where patients would either receive true acupuncture or simulated acupuncture, serving as the control group. And prior to the study, all the participants had tried numerous other treatments without success.

The team of researchers were pleasantly surprised that acupuncture significantly improved fibromyalgia symptoms compared to the control group. And not only pain. Among other symptoms, fatigue and anxiety were also greatly reduced.

Acupuncture may be a complication-free form of pain relief for patients with fibromyalgia, say Mayo Clinic researchers.

This study affirms a lot of clinical impressions that this complementary medical technique is helpful for patients.

Learn more about pain relief with acupuncture.

Antidepressants present serious risks to depresison patients

Warning for Prozac, Wellbutrin, Paxil, Effexor and Zoloft

antidepressants-depression

The Food and Drug Administration sharply stepped up warnings about possible risks to patients taking antidepressant drugs, asking doctors, families and caregivers watch closely for signs of increasing depression or suicidal thinking.

The FDA asked the makers of 10 major antidepressant drugs, including versions of Prozac, Wellbutrin, Paxil, Effexor and Zoloft, to place more detailed, explicit warnings on the labels for their medicines. The FDA didn’t order the manufacturers to change their labels, but urged them to do so voluntarily. The new cautions would ask doctors to monitor patients for a variety of symptoms from insomnia and irritability to hostility and panic attacks that might possibly signal greater risks.

The announcement comes more than a month after an FDA advisory committee urged the agency to provide clearer warnings about possible risk of suicidal tendencies in children and adolescents taking antidepressants. Still, yesterday’s development went well beyond the earlier recommendations, and included adults as well.

The most immediate result may be that doctors, particularly those who don’t focus on pediatric psychiatry, become more cautious in how they prescribe antidepressants for kids and teenagers. They could start prescribing smaller doses and being slower to step up the amounts of medicine.

“People might wait until they’ve been in talking therapy a little bit, before trying drugs,” said Richard Malone, a child psychiatrist at Drexel University College of Medicine, who was a member of the FDA advisory committee.