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Acupuncture Improves Sleep, Quality of Life in Patients With Parkinson Disease
Sleep scores in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) improved a significant 29.65 points on the Parkinson Disease Sleep Scale after 4 weeks of acupuncture treatment, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
“In this randomized clinical trial, acupuncture improved sleep quality and overall quality of life for individuals with PD,” wrote corresponding author Lixing Zhuang, MM, PhD, of The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong, China, and study coauthors. “The therapeutic effects persisted for up to 4 weeks, underscoring the potential of acupuncture as a beneficial adjunct in managing sleep-related issues among patients with PD.”
The study included 78 patients with PD and poor sleep quality randomized to treatment with real or sham acupuncture for 4 weeks. The main outcome was change in PDSS scores after 4 weeks of treatment and at 8 weeks of follow-up. Total PDSS scores, which factor in 8 different aspects of sleep, range from 0 to 150 and increase as sleep quality improves.
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Compared with the 29.65 point jump in PDSS scores in the real acupuncture group, the sham acupuncture group improved 10.47 points on the PDSS, according to the study. However, the real acupuncture group maintained sleep score gains over follow-up while the sham group did not. At 8 weeks of follow-up, the real acupuncture group had a 20.24 greater increase in PDSS scores compared with the sham acupuncture group.
“We preliminarily conclude that although sham acupuncture may induce a short-term placebo effect, acupuncture provides lasting clinical benefits in improving subjective sleep quality in patients with PD,” researchers wrote. “In this study, the placebo effect of acupuncture diminished gradually, but its therapeutic benefits remained over a prolonged period.”
The study further found significant improvements in a slate of secondary outcome measures assessing motor symptoms, nonmotor symptoms, and health-related quality of life with real acupuncture.
“Considering the interaction between sleep conditions and motor symptoms, as well as the effects of poor sleep on quality of life, acupuncture seems to enhance overall function and quality of life in participants with PD by alleviating sleep disturbances,” the authors wrote.
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