Researchers at Kyoto University and Meiji University of Integrative Medicine in Kyoto, Japan have discovered that acupuncture treatment may provide effective relief for the respiratory condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, better known as COPD. Their findings were published earlier this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Researchers provided 68 COPD patients with acupuncture along with their regular medications over the course of three months. At the end of the trial, they found that those patients were able to walk with greater ease of breath than those who received a placebo treatment.
Peer reviewer Tong-Joo Gan, MD of Duke University said their findings are in keeping with previous research.
"Clearly it looks like a viable alternative to treat chronic COPD," Gan said. "The downside is so little and the upside is so huge that acupuncture is well worth a try for those who find it difficult to control their COPD despite medications."
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