Complementary therapies in clinical practice
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Complement Ther Clin Pract · May 2021
Meta AnalysisEffects of acupoint therapy on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
and purpose: Acupoint therapy is suggested as a potential intervention for treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This review assessed current evidence for the effect of acupoint therapy on NAFLD. ⋯ Compared with other treatments, acupoint therapy may improve liver function and lipid metabolism, making it an available treatment for NAFLD. However, these findings need to be confirmed in large-scale, rigorously designed RCTs.
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Complement Ther Clin Pract · Feb 2021
Meta AnalysisEfficacy and safety of yinqiao powder combined with western medicine in the treatment of pneumonia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
This review aimed at systematically evaluating the efficacy and safety of Yinqiao powder combined with western medicine in the treatment of pneumonia. ⋯ The current evidence indicated that the Yinqiao powder combined with western medicine can improve total efficiency in the treatment of pneumonia patients. The combination therapy performed better when compared to western medicine alone in the cooling time, bacterial clearance rate, T cell count, decline rates of CRP and PCT as well as in the incidences of adverse reactions. However, there was no significant difference in the decline rates of neutrophils and leucocytes between the two groups. The funnel plot, Egger's test and Begg's test indicated publication bias, which may be associated with unpublished negative study results. Due to the limitation of the quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies should be performed to verify our conclusions.
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Complement Ther Clin Pract · Nov 2020
Review Meta AnalysisThe effectiveness of massage on peri-operative anxiety in adults: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical trials.
and purpose: Massage has gained increasing attention for reducing peri-operative anxiety. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of massage for peri-operative anxiety in adults. ⋯ Massage is a promising complementary therapy for ameliorating peri-operative anxiety in adults.
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Complement Ther Clin Pract · Nov 2020
Meta AnalysisThe effects of acupuncture versus sham/placebo acupuncture for insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Acupuncture has been found to be an effective treatment for insomnia. but it is not clear whether acupuncture is just a placebo effect. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of acupuncture and sham/placebo acupuncture. ⋯ A total of 15 studies involving 1108 patients. Meta-analysis results showed that acupuncture therapy was superior to sham/placebo acupuncture in terms of improving Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), insomnia severity index (ISI), total sleep time (TST), sleep-onset latency (SOL), wake after sleep onset (WASO), sleep efficiency (SE), even during the follow-up period, acupuncture therapy was superior to sham/placebo acupuncture on PSQI. Due to the obvious heterogeneity of the study, (1) for primary outcome (PSQI):subgroup analysis based on the type of acupuncture and placebo acupuncture showed that acupuncture was superior to placebo acupuncture lower PSQI: acupuncture was superior to placebo acupuncture (3RCTs,MD = -7.34,95% [-8.02,-6.66],I2 = 86%) and minimal acupuncture (5RCTs,MD = -3.29,95% [-3.95, -2.63],I2 = 53%), Auricular acupressure was superior to placebo acupuncture (1RCT,MD = -4.16,95% [-6.57, -1.75]), minimal acupuncture was superior to electroacupuncture (2RCTs, MD = 0.70,95%CI [0.52, 0.87],I2 = 0%), while there was no significant difference between auricular acupressure and minimal acupuncture, between electroacupuncture and placebo acupuncture. trials). (2) for secondary outcome (ISI,TST,WASO,SE,SOL).ISI, the ISI score of minimal acupuncture was lower than that of electroacupuncture (2RCTs,MD = 0.80,95%CI [0.55, 1.04],I2 = 0), acupuncture was lower placebo acupuncture (1RCT, MD = -7.89,95%CI [-10.15, -5.63]), There was no significant difference between electroacupuncture and minimal acupuncture. Conclusion: Based on the outcomes included in this study, the efficacy of acupuncture was superior to that of placebo acupuncture in treating insomnia. Types of acupuncture therapy and placebo may underestimate the efficacy of acupuncture in different ways.
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Complement Ther Clin Pract · Aug 2020
Meta AnalysisFoot reflexology in the management of functional constipation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Foot reflexology has been considered an important complementary therapy for many health-related symptoms, especially for some chronic conditions such as anxiety, stress, pain and fatigue. Some studies also showed that foot reflexology had a significant effect on functional constipation, whereas some studies did not. The effect of foot reflexology on functional constipation remains controversial. Therefore, an evidence-based systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials were conducted to investigate the effect of foot reflexology on functional constipation. ⋯ Foot reflexology is an effective complementary therapy for treating functional constipation. However, because of the small number of included studies and their small sample sizes, the current evidence was insufficient to support the effectiveness of foot reflexology in reducing the recurrence rate, improving the constipation-related symptom, and compliance with toilet training, diet and motivation. Randomised controlled trials with long-term follow-up are needed for further investigation.