According to a modern understanding of acupuncture mechanisms,acupuncture may elicit vegetative reflexes,presumably influencing the systemwide vegetative dysregulation associated with the heart failure syndrome,a feature of which is low performance in the 6 min walk test.The author performed a preliminary prospective,randomized,single-blinded clinical trial (n=21) in a cross-over design comparing acupuncture treatment,which was either compatible with individual Chinese diagnosis according to the Heidelberg Model of TCM(i-ACU)or a standardized treatment on acupoints with no specific relation to TCM diagnosis (u-ACU).The repeated measures analysis revealed a significant effect for i-ACU vs.u-ACU (F =7.2,df=1.37,P=0.011). The study revealed first evidence that acupuncture may prolong 6 min walk distance as a key parameter of heart failure.
HJ Greten O Karrer A Remppis A Kick E Scholz J Fischer,T Greten F Brazkiewicz F Sehroder S Sertel Wendt M Goncalves
German Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Heidelberg,Germany;Porto University,ICBAS,Portugal German Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Heidelberg,Germany German Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Heidelberg,Germany;Dept.of Endocrinology and Metaboli Dept.of Cardiology,University of Heidelberg,Germany Dept.of Otorhinolaryngology,Head & Neck Surgery University of Heidelberg,Germany